From Pillar to Post
by Arry the Banana
Summary: At 17 years, Alexis Rider has come to the UK again. In need of someone to protect and look after her, capable as she is, she meets up with characters from the past who she had quite forgotten about! T because I'm a cynic, swearing is all at the moment. Oh, I suck at summaries.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello, people! This is my first Alex Rider fanfic, and I'm quite excited! I know that it's not the most original plot, but we have a little gender bending going on! This is only because I've always wondered what life would be like, had Alex been a girl. Being of the female species myslef, I was curious. For now, only Alex has been changed to Alexis, but she's still called Alex, and Sabina is Sam. Original, I know :/ So review, give me feedback, but don't be harsh to the poor, new author. And you never know, I might respond ;)**

**Disclaimer: As much as the thought of being Anthony Horowitz is appealing to me, I'm not him. Therefore, I don't own anything he does :)**

* * *

"_Lex, I'm sorry. Sam's University is taking him further and further away from home, Edward's leg is troubling him again and there's going to be a new addition to the family." Liz Pleasure sighed, looking down at her bulging stomach, a vessel of new life. She looked at her adopted daughter, who she knew was trying to put on a brave face. "It's alright, Liz. I understand. Really, I do. I guess that MI6 are just going to have to find me a new guardian. I mean, it's not as if I haven't been pushed around from pillar to post before," she added, bitterly. Liz grimaced sympathetically. She only hoped that Britain's Secret Service would understand her predicament._

_That is how Alexis Helen Rider found her way on a plane, back to England. _

* * *

"Alex! Alex! Wake up! We're here!" Sam Pleasure was all but screaming in his sort-of sister/ ex-girlfriend's ear. She replied with the erection of her favourite finger. "Charming. But you need to get up. By the way, sexy bed hair." He grinned and avoided the good-natured punch aimed for his shoulder. Alex sighed and sorted out her hair. She found a mirror and wiped away all the smudged eyeliner and tried to make herself look more or less presentable. She was wearing light blue skinny jeans, an Aztec-style sweater and a black scarf. On her feet were black Converses and she was wearing black earrings, in the same style as her necklace. _Practical, yet will hopefully make a good impression on her new guardian._ He and Sam, along with Liz and Edward Pleasure, eventually got off the plane and into Heathrow Airport. After going through all the paperwork and procedures for immigration and such, they finally made it out, and were on their way to Liverpool Street. They were on track to the Royal and General Bank.

* * *

"Here goes nothing," muttered Alex, wishing she was anywhere but here. She walked up to the information desk. "Hi. I'm Alex Rider; I've come to meet Mrs Jones. I've brought my guardians with me. I think we have an appointment?" The secretary smiled. "I'm sorry, dear; I think you must be mistaken. There is no employer in our bank who goes by the name of "Mrs Jones". You could try Barclay's, down the road, I'm-sure- , "She faltered under Alex's glare. "Listen, I know for a fact that there is a Mrs Jones, here. I've worked with her before. Her first name is probably Tulip, and she likes peppermints. Happy?"

The secretary lost her dizzy attitude at once. She typed something up onto the computer and picked up the phone. "Mrs Jones? Alex Rider and… family, to see you." They were led upstairs, to Mrs Jones' room. Alex glanced at Sam and Liz, before bringing her fist up to the door, then paused. _Fuck it,_ she thought and barged straight in, Liz, Edward and Sam following suite. In front of them stood Mrs Jones, arms crossed and a disapproving expression on her face. "Well, well, well. Alex Rider. It's been too long," she said. Alex raised an eyebrow. _Not in my world._ She sat down as Liz began to talk. She told the situation to Mrs Jones, whose eyebrows lifted higher and higher by each sentence. _If she doesn't stop, she'll lose them altogether_, thought Alex. At the end of her tale, Mrs Jones nodded. "Well, Alex, we've chosen a guardian for you. We thought it would be best for you to have someone you know already. I'll tell you who it is when you have said your goodbyes to the Pleasures." She looked pointedly at Alex.

Outside Mrs Jones' office, Alex hugged Liz and Edwards, wishing them and the baby well. They walked on, telling Sam they would wait outside. Sam turned to Alex. "'Bye Sam," Alex said, "Text when you get back to America. E-mail, phone-"

"-Write, text, telegraph. I know, Lex. Bye." And with that, Alex's future with the Pleasures disappeared. She sighed, wearily, and walked back into Mrs Jones' office. Inside, Mrs Jones was looking on with something akin to sympathy. "Now, Alex, your guardian has had an injury and is on desk-job, which made it quite convenient for us to choose him. Although he has a real name, I believe you know him as Wolf."

* * *

Diego Montez swore as he walked along to Mrs Jones' office. _I'm a fucking SAS troop. I mean, what the fuck? A fucking ward. I have to babysit for some agent, who's injured. Why can't his parents look after him? Probably off "saving the world". Huh. _He arrived at the office and stared at the door. With all his might, he knocked and entered. Inside were Mrs Jones and someone who was most likely to be his new responsibility. He shot a withering at the back of her head before he caught the attention of Mrs Jones. "Ah! Wolf! Come and sit. You know you're new ward, although she might have… changed a bit." Wolf did as he was told, his sharp eyes on the girl. He examined her smirking face and looked blankly at Mrs Jones. "No? I thought so. You SAS grunts were never as sharp as our spies," she sniffed.  
"This is Alexis Helen Rider, also known as Cub".

Wolf jumped. His mouth was wide open. "Careful, Wolf. There are lots of flies in here, and I'm sure they don't want to be in your mouth at the moment", commented Cub.

"But you're a…"

"Yes."

"But you used to be a…"

"It seems like it."

"What was wrong with you, gender issues or something? And you!" he glared at Mrs Jones. " I thought you wanted me to look after a "top-notch agent, who has protected the country too many times to count on my fingers!"".

Alex cut in before Mrs Jones got a word in edgeways. "Well, you see, Wolf, I am he. Or he is me. Or she is me. Pick what you want. But I have been on missions before; I was an agent until two years ago. In all my missions, including when I was training with K-Unit, I dressed like a boy: I cut my hair off, didn't put make-up on, and bound my- ahem…" Alex trailed off with a grin. Wolf sat back in his chair, letting out a whoosh of air.

_Oh shit._

* * *

**_So, Voila! Chapter 1! I might be able to get the next tomorrow, though probably the day after, depending on feedback._**

**_Ta ra from your favourite banana x_**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey people! So not many people reviewed, even though I had quite a few views and all :( But whatever. I don't have much to say at the moment, but I had time, so I thought, why not?**

**Disclaimer: Do I look like a 60-year old man to you? Oh, you can't see me. Well, I'm not, so I don't own anything you recognize**

* * *

"So, Wolf. How have you been doing? Did you ever really get over the kick up your arse up in Brecon Beacons? Been anywhere? Seen anyone? Is the whole unit on rest…?" Alex gabbled happily, trying to diffuse the tension between them, which a knife wouldn't have cut through, it was so thick. Wolf sighed and tried to concentrate harder on the book he was reading. They were on the train, which had departed from London an hour ago. _Come on, Wolf. Only two hours to Birmingham. _Alex, after getting over the initial disappointment that they weren't staying in London, took on the responsibility of keeping the conversation alive. Seeing as she was travelling with Wolf, this job was unfruitful. Wolf sighed again, clocking the stares he was attracting from the children on the seats opposite. "Cub, shut up. I have a killer migraine, an injured leg and, if I were you, I would keep my guard up for a kick in the balls. Oh, wait, that's right, you don't have any!" Alex dutifully kept quiet, knowing that a kick anywhere by Wolf would see her through with a beautiful number of bruises.

* * *

Finally, the pair arrived at New Street Station. As soon as they arrived inside, Wolf shoved Alex's suitcases at her, making her stumble backwards, slightly. "Don't move, Cub. Stay here and phone this number for a cab. Ask for one to Wellington Road. Meanwhile, I need a wee and a tic-tac." He passed a business card to Alex and stormily made his way to the gents. Twenty minutes later, they were in the cab and on their way to Wolf's house. Alex was thoroughly tired, blaming it on jet lag. She leaned her head against the cool, calming glass, promptly falling asleep. Wolf glanced at her, unsympathetically. _At least when she was a boy, she had more stamina._ He stared along the road until his house came into his sight. " Cub? Get up. We're here." After paying the driver his fees, grumbling about daylight robbery, Wolf led the way to his house, Alex following with her many bags.

Upon entering Wolf's house, Alex noticed that it was very clean and very quiet. She would have expected nothing less of the guy, who most probably had OCD, standing in front of her. However, she didn't expect the sheer amount of… personality the rooms held. Wolf was a cold, distant person. The only emotions he ever showed were anger, annoyance and… anger! Yet the walls were covered in pictures of family, friends, and mostly of K-Unit: at Brecon Beacons, in Wolf's house, in fatigues, in casual clothes. There was one that caught Alex's eyes the most, because there was an extra someone in the background. A small, slight boy, staring at his teammates with an expression of awe mixed with distaste. The other four men were sitting in a cabin, looking angry and fed-up. Alex smiled. The little boy in the corner was her. But why had Wolf kept this picture? His unit looked sour and it included one person who he apparently hated the most in the world. Did it serve as some kind of reminder, or something? Alex's train of thought was interrupted by the call of her name. "Cu-, um, Alex? Come into the kitchen." Alex went into the kitchen, her eyes on Wolf. "Did you want something to eat? Or I could, um, find a movie for you to watch, although they might not be particularly age appropriate…" Alex rolled her eyes. "Wolf, please don't try to be understanding. The whole furious robot thing suits you more. If it's alright with you, I'd rather be shown my room and go to sleep." Wolf looked at her uncertainly. Then he led her upstairs and stood outside a room. "See that, Cub? That is my room and next door is my office. If you value your life, you will never go into either of them. Understand?" She mutely nodded. "Good. Now here," he said, opening another door, "is your room. I used to use it for storage but I've moved everything into the attic. Do what you want with it, as long as you keep it clean." With that, he went out. Alex heard him ring someone on his phone. _"Hello? You have got to come here, bring everyone with you. I just can't fucking deal with this…"_ Alex rolled her eyes again and surveyed the room. It was unlike all the other rooms, with no character, but this was fine with her. It wasn't as if she wanted to be here. She yawned and climbed into the bed. She wouldn't sleep; she would just rest a little bit…

* * *

Alex sluggishly opened her eyes, taking in her surroundings with a huge yawn. Then she heard it. A snigger, however faint. She looked over to the end of the bed and shrieked: a man was sitting there, watching her, in the dark! "What the fuck? Why are you sitting here, watching me sleep? Who are you, Edward freaking Cullen?" she yelled. The man turned on the lights and smiled wryly. "Actually, I'm Matthew freaking Cullen. Although you know me as Eagle. Wolf told me to come and wake you up because dinners ready." He stood and watched appraisingly as Alex got out of bed and stretched. "What?" she glared, as she noticed the man was surveying her still. She led the way downstairs, Eagle in tow.

As she walked into the living room, she saw Wolf and three other men staring at her: Ben Daniels, Snake and another, unfamiliar man. "Cub!" said Ben, "Good to see you again. Although you've changed quite a bit since Australia…" he trailed off with a raised eyebrow. Alex smiled at him, then turned to Snake and the new guy. "Hi! Before you start with the whole, "Oh my God! Cub's a girl!" thing, I'll introduce myself. My name's Alex Rider, 17, I am in fact a girl, and I'm going to live with Wolf for God knows how long. I used to live in America, and London before that, and yes, I do know Ben. Nice to meet you again, Snake, and hello to the new guy!" With that, she sat down and glared at Wolf. "Wow," murmured Eagle, "She's capable, feisty and nice-looking too!" Alex switched her killer glare to him. "Right. Thank you, Alex, for that lovely introduction. The "new guy" is Lynx, he came to K-Unit to replace Fox, who went over to MI6".

"I still don't know how they got him to the dark side. I think they had cookies," interrupted Eagle.

"Yes, I'm sure they used cookies, Eagle. Um, I haven't actually made dinner, so we're having takeaway. OK?" Wolf said.

"Thank God," whispered Ben into Alex's ear, "Snake got food poisoning last time Wolf tried to cook." And that was it. Dinner was decided for Alex, whether she liked it or not. Just like her life. She sighed as the SAS troops argued over Chinese or Indian. _Get used to it, Alex. This is your new life._

* * *

**_So there we have it, chapter 2! Few questions:_**

**_1. What do you think about changing the appearance of Alex? Only, I've always thought of her/him a bit like Effy Stonem in Skins, sarky etc. It might give me a better idea of her character and all. _**

**_2. Should she and Eagle have a relationship? Strange couple, I know, but..._**

**_Please review and answer these questions, and feel free to give me pointers!_**

**_Ta ra from your favourite banana x_**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hey guys! So I've figured that I can probably update everyday for this coming week! Thank you so much to the people who have reviewed. Anyway, on with the show!**

**Disclaimer: I asked Anthony Horowitz for Alex Rider for my birthday, but he didn't give in :(**

* * *

Alex reached out for her alarm clock, whose ringing was giving her a headache. Today was the first day at school for her in Birmingham. She was to attend the local comprehensive, as Wolf was "not about to pay his hard-earned wages for some snivelling brat's education". She was in Sixth Form, so she didn't have to wear uniform, a fact that Wolf was glad of. After a quick shower, she decided on wearing black, ripped jeans, a black vest top and her denim jacket. It was early summer: not too warm and not too cold, just perfect. She straightened her brown, shoulder-length hair and left it down, and applied some subtle eyeliner.

She tiptoed quietly downstairs, trying not to catch Wolf's attention. When she reached the kitchen, she realised she didn't have to. Wolf had gone to work, leaving a note on the counter: _Gone to work, will be back late, make your own dinner_. Alex huffed. So much for his parental side, yesterday. She made herself some toast and sat down to eat it. Then she got out her phone and began to text her best friend since childhood, Tom Harris.

_Morning, slugger ;)_

_Lex! Finally got used to the different time zones, then?_

_Actually, no. I'm in England!_

_What? Why? Are u coming to Brooklands?_

_It's a long story, but I'm not in London. I'm in Birmingham :(_

_Oh. Who are you staying with? U can still come visit, right?_

_Remember, years back, when I was 14, I had gone to Brecon Beacons?_

_The one with the people who bullied u because you were so little, yh. Why?_

_I live with the main bully, Wolf. I still don't know his real name :/ But I'll ask if I can visit. I know the train route._

_Ah, poor you :/ Try not to kill him. Anyways, g2g, school awaits me :P_

Alex smiled fondly. Things might actually be looking up.

* * *

School wasn't far from Wolf's house, just down the road. Alex went up to the secretary's office. "Hi, my name is Alex Rider. I'm supposed to start here today." The secretary looked up at her from her computer. "Ah, yes. Alexis Helen Rider. We've been awaiting you." Alex mentally shuddered. _Creepy introduction. _She was given her timetable and an indication as to where her locker was. Alex walked out of the secretary's office, confidently, towards her locker, number fourteen. She opened her locker with her code, and instantly winced. Whoever last owned her locker was certainly not hygiene-friendly, judging by the rotting food and empty alcohol bottles. She slammed the locker shut, only to find a girl of her age, staring at her. "Hi! I'm Lynette, but most people call me Lynny." She smiled widely at Alex.

"Um, hey." Alex reached into her bag for baby wipes. The girl was still staring at her while she cleaned out all the food. "What's your name?" she asked.

"Alex." Then she brought the bin over from the corner of the room and emptied the bottles and cigarette packets. The girl's face darkened. "Alex, you don't want to do that," she warned. "And why not?" asked Alex, clearly annoyed. "That locker used to belong to Ryan Healy, the most popular in boy in school, last year. He warned us that anyone who does anything t o it will "suffer the consequences"". Lynette's eyes were wide with fear. "Oh yeah? Well it's a wonder that he was able to use it in this state. I can't so I'm clearing it out. OK?" said Alex. Lynette nodded, her face shining with fear, yet admiration. Then it changed, again. "Well, you better be able to tell that to him yourself. Here he comes!" With that, she scuttled away.

Alex groaned and turned around. In front of her stood a tall boy with a trail of admiring girls behind him. He looked cocky, like he knew people loved him. And he looked happy, that he had a victim to mess with for touching his locker. Unfortunately, he didn't know who he was dealing with. "Oi! You can't touch my locker! I don't usually fight girls, but you better move if you know what's good for you!" he yelled, looking pleased with himself. Alex merely raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Well? Ain't ya gonna move?" he said. Alex looked to the ceiling and started whistling. That made Ryan angry. He roared and attempted to punch her in the stomach. But Alex knew what was coming, from his stance, and ducked, twisting his arm round and gripping him in a headlock. "Now you listen. I suggest you never even look at me again, let alone fight me. Because, believe me, this is the very least that I can and will do." With that, Alex walked over to her form room, ignoring the appreciative looks everyone was giving her.

When she entered the form room, her form teacher, Mr Byrnes was telling the class about the kind of conduct he expected, class rules and such. He saw Alex arrive, and immediately introduced her to the class. "Ah, Miss Rider. Class, this is our new student, Alexis Rider. She has come all the way from San Francisco in America!" The class murmured, while Alex thought to herself, _please don't ask me to say something, please don't ask me to say something… _"Now, Alexis, would you mind telling the class a little about yourself?" smiled Mr Byrnes. _Fuck. _"Yeah, sure. Well, I was born and brought up in London till I was fifteen. After that, I was adopted by people in America. Then they couldn't look after me, so I moved here." Mr Byrnes smiled, knowingly. "Thank you, Alexis, that was very informative. Please take a seat next to Mr Bell over there."

Alex walked over to the only empty seat, next to a boy with floppy blonde hair and green eyes. He was sitting back in his chair with his feet on the table and arms crossed. Alex glared at him and sat down. He smiled at her and held out his hand. "Hey. I'm James Bell. You're the new girl, then? I've heard loads of rumours about you already. Did you really beat up Ryan Healy on your first day?" Alex nodded. "Well then, Alexis Rider, I get the feeling that we're going to be good friends."

* * *

When Alex finally got home, her bag full of homework, even though it was the first day, she was greeted by shouts of glee. "Cub! Come in. We're staying over for dinner today!" Alex rolled her eyes and shook her head. _Great_._ K-Unit._ She walked into the living room, where she saw Ben, Eagle, Snake and Lynx watching a football match. "Who's playing?" she inquired. "Arsenal and Chelsea," replied Ben, absentmindedly. "Oh. Chelsea will win, for sure." Eagle turned around to look at Alex. "You like football?" he grinned. Alex shrugged and made her way to her room. She steadily made her way through her homework.

A few hours later, she went downstairs. After discovering that Chelsea did, in fact, win, she announced that she would make lasagna for dinner, as she couldn't be bothered with anything else. Ben grinned at her, telling her to go back to the kitchen, where she belonged. Alex didn't miss the chance in reminding him that the kitchen is where the knives are. She smiled as she made the sauce. _They're not that bad, really._ She heard someone come into the kitchen and she turned around to see Eagle, grinning at her manically. _On second thoughts…_

"Hey, Alex. You want any help?"

"No, Eagle. I'm fine."

"Alex, you should really stop calling me Eagle. People might wonder if you're high or something."

"I'll bear that in mind. Good bye!" She looked at him, pointedly.

"Alex, are you sure you don't want help? I could add the marshmallows into the sauce, maybe. Do you put marshmallows in lasagna?"

"Eagle, how old are you?"

"I'm nearly twenty-four."

"Then could you stop acting like a five year old!"

Eagle looked disappointed. "Fine. But can I just sit here? Snake, Lynx and Fox are talking about politics and stuff. I don't really understand it."

"Will you shut up if you do?"

"Probably."

"Fine."

Alex sighed as she put the lasagna in the oven. It was taking a lot to stop her from adding poison to the food, so that Eagle would shut up. All she wanted was to be left alone. Could they not see that?

* * *

_**So there we have Chapter 3! Please review and tell me if you want any improvements, scenes situations.. Are chapters too long? Too short? Does Alex seem a bit OCC? Tell me, I need to know!**_

_**Ta ra from your favourite banana x**_


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey guys! I think the last chapter was a little boring, but there was a little bit of "Algle" going on at the end. There might be a bit more at the end, maybe. OK, sorry, that couple name sucks. Also, I've been told that the chapters might be a bit too short, so I tried for a bit longer. Thanks for the reviews! Keep giving me feedback, it will help me construct this better. And on with the show!**

**Disclaimer: Sorry, but no.**

* * *

"Wolf?"

Grunt.

"I was wondering if I could go out this weekend."

Raised eyebrows.

"Only, one of my friends, James, invited me to a party, and a lot of people are going, so it would be a chance to make new friends-"

"Cub, I'm trying to work! No offence, but I don't care about your social life, so piss off!"

Alex huffed and moved towards the door, but paused. "So I take it that I can go?"

"CUB!"

* * *

Alex grinned at her reflection in the mirror. After much persuasion, when Wolf was in a better mood, she was finally allowed to go to the party. James Bell had asked her on Friday if she wanted to come. Alex didn't know what to think of James. He looked arrogant and cock-sure, but he seemed ok at heart. Besides, Alex figured that she would keep with the first friend she made in her new school, if she could help it. Of course, there was Lynette, but she didn't really understand that dizzy, hyper girl as much as James. James reminded her of Tom. And anyone like Tom was alright in her books.

She finally put the finishing touches to her outfit: a silver dress that ended mid-thigh, lots of gold necklaces and chunky bracelets. On her legs, she wore fishnet tights. She gently teased her hair and put a black hair-band on. Alex didn't particularly like heavy make-up, so she used a blue eye-pencil and light mascara, as well as a slick of lip-gloss. The overall effect was stunning, even if she did say so herself.

When she went downstairs, Wolf told her she could come back at any time, as long as she didn't disturb him. Oh, and if she was stoned, she wasn't coming back to his house. Alex just smiled at him and agreed to his terms. As she opened the door to go out, she saw K-Unit coming to visit. She waited for them at the door. "Hey, guys," she greeted. "Hi, Cu- oh, holy fuck!" was Snake's clever reply. They were all staring at her. Eagle's jaw had visibly dropped to the ground and Lynx was blinking and rubbing his eyes. Ben, however, frowned at Alex. "Lex, are you sure you should go out like that? You might attract unwanted attention…" Alex sighed and told him not to worry. She was perfectly capable of looking after herself. Grinning at Eagle and Lynx, she walked down the pavement to the bus stop. She smirked as she heard murmurs from Wolf's front garden: _She looks amazing as a girl._

* * *

Alex arrived at James' house and took in the grandeur of the place. James soon found her, greeting her warmly. "Alex! You made it. This is my brother, Luke." Alex turned to look at the older boy who was gawking at her. He was a tall blonde, like his brother, but he had sharp blue eyes instead of green. He looked alright to Alex, but he was nothing special. She murmured a greeting to him and turned back to James. "Where are your parents, then?" James grinned. "They're out for the weekend. They left Luke in charge, making sure he promised to be a good little boy, but…" he gestured to the dark house, with music blaring, people dancing and alcohol being consumed at an alarming rate. Alex nodded, her body already jiggling to the catchy music. "Come on," said James, "Come and dance."

* * *

Wolf sighed wearily, pouring through his new ward's file as Eagle and Lynx argued over a rom-com or action. So far, rom-com was winning, much to Lynx's disgust. Wolf was extremely angry. He was expected to look after and protect some kid, who he knew nothing about and he wasn't even getting paid! All he knew was Cub's name, age and bits and pieces about his school work. Everything else came with a big, red "classified" before it. For Christ's sake, he didn't even know about how long he had to look after Cub. He guessed it would be whenever his parents came back from their mission, or business trip, or whatever they were doing.

Wolf shifted his gaze towards his noisy unit. They weren't even acknowledging his presence, even after all he did for them, getting shot for them in Iraq… _No, Wolf, don't go there. It's not worth it._ He got up and silently went to the kitchen. One thing he had learnt in the past is that alcohol makes you forget everything wrong in your life. And if that was what it took for him to make the pain go away, then so be it.

* * *

It was nearly midnight when Alex had decided she had enough. She didn't partake in the drinking competitions, knowing full well what alcohol could do to the strongest man. She just danced. She thought that dancing was one of the best things in the world, because not only was it exercise for the body, but it cleared away all your troubles. And the good thing about James' party was the music. It was feel-good, and made you want to get up and just _dance._ Because no-one else mattered when she danced. It was just her, and that was how she liked it.

Alex said bye to James and Luke, and to the many other friends she had made at the party. She walked outside, mentally berating herself for not bringing a jacket, as it was very cold. She stumbled along the road, only slightly tipsy. If, however, she wasn't as tipsy, she would have noticed the slight movements behind her, as if someone was trying to seem inconspicuous, but failing miserably. But Alex walked on, blissfully unaware. Then, when she turned the corner of the road, all hell broke loose. There was a shout of "get her, lads" and Alex was thrown to the floor in surprise. She immediately got up, her brain reminding her of what to do when she got attacked. She lowered her stance, poised on the balls of her feet, eyes alert and suspicious. There, entering her line of vision was the boy she beat up by the lockers a few days ago, with some of his mates: Ryan Healy. He swung his fist at her and she ducked, trying to kick him round the side, but he caught her leg and threw her to the ground. At once, Alex threw her legs up, kicking him in the balls. He yelled in pain, falling to the ground. Yet Alex didn't loosen up as yet, for more of Healy's minions were coming here way. She knew that this should be easy, until she saw one with a knife. Her karate instincts took over as she performed a roundhouse kick, knocking down a few of them like dominoes. But there were still two left. One screamed, and ran up to her, attempting to tackle her to the ground. She calmly stepped out of the way, but she didn't avoid a healthy punch to the cheek. She was sure that would colour nicely the next day. Satisfied, she turned to leave, but she forgot about the most important one: the one with the knife. He roared as he attempted to stab her, but she ducked, leaving the knife to wound the thin air, and then she ran. She heard something whizzing through the air and felt something sharp on her ear, making her stumble. She drew her hand to her ear and felt something warm and runny. _Blood._ She looked back, but the guy with the knife had run away.

Alex stumbled on the ground, wishing her life was simple. _For fuck's sake, I only beat him up at school! Why'd he have to bring a knife into it?_ She searched her bag for her phone and when she finally found it, she searched through her contacts. There was one that was still on her speed dial that shocked her: _Jack Starbright._ There wasn't much use calling that, and Wolf hadn't given her his number. She continued scrolling until she got to "E". There she found Eagle's number. He had given it to her after pestering her for days, claiming it was only for her safety. She sighed and rang the number.

* * *

At Wolf's house, Eagle was having a brilliant time watching _Finding Nemo_. It was the only film that both he and Lynx could agree on. He sighed, content. The only thing he needed now was a beautiful girl to call his. Of course, he had set his sights on a certain Alex Rider. Of course, Fox had scolded him enough about the fact that there was nearly seven years of difference between them, but that hadn't stopped Eagle from trying. As he had rightfully told Fox, it was only a matter of time that Alex saw sense. His train of thoughts was interrupted by the ringing of his phone. _And I was like, baby, baby, baby, ohh…_ Eagle glared at Lynx, who he knew was responsible for that, and answered the phone. "Hello, Matt speaking?"

"Eagle? I really need your help!"

"Alex? What's happened?"

"There was this fight outside the party and I got involved and I really need to be picked up."

"Are you hurt?" The other looked at Eagle, aghast.

"No, I'm ok. I'll text you the address, but I need help. Oh, and can you tell Ben that the fight didn't affect my you-know-what? He'll be worried. Oh, and don't tell Wolf. He doesn't need to know."

"You're you-know-what? What's that? Alex? ALEX?" But the phone was dead. He turned to Ben, who was white with fear. He had heard the whole conversation. Their pregnant silence was interrupted by a _ding! _of Eagle's phone, telling him where Alex was. HE quickly motioned to the others to follow him, while shouting to Wolf that he was going to get Alex. All he got in response was a deep snore. Eagle gave a dry chuckle. _I guess this is the best way to get Alex to like me: be her knight in shining armour…_

* * *

Alex was lying on the couch in Wolf's living room with four, very concerned SAS men standing around her. She sighed as Ben ranted on and on about how much more careful she should have been, the risks of alcohol and why it should be made illegal for teenage girls to walk around on their own at the dead of night. Alex sighed and made a point of looking at her watch. Ben stopped short and looked at her ruefully. "Sorry. But did you hurt your…" trailed off Ben, unsure of how much he should reveal to the rest of the unit. Alex shook her head. "It's nearly three years old, Ben. It isn't have as bad as before."

"I know, Alex, but I have to check."

"Wait," said Snake, "You have a serious injury?" Alex shook her head feverishly, while Ben nodded. "Cub, what have you got? I'm the unit's medic and you're still one of us. I need to know." Alex sat there stoically, refusing to meet his eyes. Eagle decided to pipe up. "Alex, you better tell us. You told us that you weren't hurt now, but you have many bruises on your face and you were almost knifed! Somehow, I refuse to believe that Ben is lying." Alex's face softened. "Fine. But I don't see what the fuss is about." Ben sighed and walked out of the room. Then Alex did something that none of them expected: she took her dress off. She stared at them defiantly as they gasped in shock. They were army men. They knew that kind of wound when they saw it. "Cub! You got shot in the heart! How are you even alive?" yelled Snake. Alex shrugged and put her dress back on. "It was two centimetres to the left, actually." They shuddered at the casual tone she employed. But Lynx was thinking. "You got shot by the heart. If it was an open fire, you would have more wounds. Then how come…" he blanched as he finally understood. "There was an attempt to assassinate you! But who would do that? You know, you haven't told us much about yourself, Cub. Just who are you?" At that moment, Ben came back. "Guys, we should go. Bye, Lex. Feel better tomorrow." Alex smiled gratefully at him as he walked out, Lynx and Snake behind him. Eagle remained, giving Alex a hard look. She sighed, walked up to him and kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks," she said, before running off, leaving a flabbergasted Eagle in her wake.

* * *

Alex was surprised to find that Wolf was more pissed than she was. She caught him nursing a bottle of vodka, muttering to himself, until he caught sight of Alex. "You!" he pointed, accusingly, "You have made my life hell. I never wanted you. The Unit doesn't want you. You just walked in here and expected to be pampered, just like your parents do for you. Well, listen Cub: you might have been born with a silver spoon in your mouth, but don't expect that kind of treatment from me. Stay out of my way, or else." With that, he walked into the living room, roughly pushing past her. Alex groaned and went upstairs. _Just another person's life she's fucked up, then._

* * *

**_Oh, poor Alex :( So, tell me what you think, what I should improve on, better length? Also, if you have any scenes that you especially want, then go ahead and tell me. Also, does Wolf seem a bit... bipolar? He does to me, but that might just be the critical author..._**

**_Ta ra from your favourite banana x_**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Helloo! Glad you all enjoyed the last chapter. I've decided that Wolf was just drunk, not bipolar. I guess he's allowed off days. And who enjoyed the little Eagle/Alex moment there? More to come later in the story *wink*. Be warned, you might need a tissue or two for this chapter. It gets emotional. I cried writing it. On second thoughts, it might just be me. Thank you to all my lovely reviewers! On with the show!**

**Disclaimer: I tried, but I failed. Horowitz still owns the lot, apart from the plot. Hey, that rhymed!**

* * *

School the next week had been normal for Alex, more so than usual. James had been enquiring about her obvious bruises, but she waved him off, determined not to make a big deal out of it. Of course, though, someone _had_ to have seen the whole incident after the party, and asked her about how she knew such cool moves. "Self-defence," she answered shortly. And as for the knife wound, she passed it off as a new earring.

Alex had found herself a Saturday job, working in a small café and waitressing. She was trying to make whatever money she could for herself, seeing as it was not likely that Wolf would help her out. Wolf and Alex hadn't talked to each other since the drunken outburst, avoiding each other's gaze at all possible times. Whatever parental demeanour that Wolf once had was gone. He didn't ask Alex about her battered face or the small bandage on her ear. Whenever K-Unit came round, he chatted to them, like always, but blatantly shunned Alex. And for some reason, Alex was disappointed. However crude Wolf had been before, he was still a good guy. He still acknowledged her presence, in his gruff manner. Now, it was like she didn't exist. _Ah, Alex, _said the little voice in her head, _isn't this what you wanted. You know the saying: be careful what you wish for- it might just come true._

She sighed as she wiped down a table. Things really weren't looking up for Alex. Now, she would never be able to convince Wolf to let her go to London to see Tom. She was aching all over from the fight, blaming the lack of excitement in her life for two years. And the guy with the knife… why did it bother her so much? Something wasn't right… She snapped out of her pensive reverie to hear her boss asking her to serve table 9. She walked over, only to look in disgust. "Are you guys purposely stalking me, or something? Piss off!" she whispered to K-Unit. Ben turned to face her, his expression grave. "Sorry, Cub, but we have orders. And seeing as Wolf is failing in his responsibility to protect you, for whatever reason he has, we are taking up that job." Snake nodded in agreement. "We don't think that the fight you had last week was coincidental, especially not with a knife. We know we are annoying you, but we have a reason."

"Well, you got that right. But what's Lynx doing? He doesn't know me."

Lynx raised his eyebrows. "Does anyone, Cub?" He had a point.

"Right! Fine. I'll talk to you at home. My shift ends in five minutes. Now, please, make your order. I thought you're trying to be inconspicuous?" She took down their orders of coffee, wishing a hole would appear in the ground and suck her up.

* * *

Eagle plunked a cup of tea in front of Alex, who was sitting back lazily in her chair, admiring her fingernails. Snake, Eagle, Lynx and, strangely, Wolf were sitting around the table, watching her, willing her to speak. After five minutes of utter, complete silence, Wolf broke. "For God's sake, Cub, explain _something _to us!" Alex elevated an eyebrow. "I thought you didn't want to know," she said, looking straight at Wolf. He, at least had the decency to blush, while mumbling something about a drunken fit. "Look, as much as I want to hear about Wolf's "drunken fit", he's right. Tell us something," butted in Snake. Alex huffed. Then, she thought of something. "Fine. Why don't we make this interesting? A game of truth. Don't feel that you're obliged to answer, but as forfeit, you must take off something on your body." She sat back and grinned at them. Lynx nodded his agreement, Eagle, Snake and Wolf following. Ben grinned back at her. "Well, then," she announced, "Let the games begin!"

Snake leaned forward. "How many missions have you been on when you were a proper agent?"

"About nine, I think. From age fourteen to fifteen. Now, my turn. What's your name, Wolf?"

Wolf looked disgruntled. The others looked amused that he still hadn't trusted Cub enough to give his name. "It's Diego Montez. I'm Spanish." Then Eagle spoke: "Who's Jack Starbright? I saw the name on your phone…" Alex shifted uncomfortably. "She was my previous guardian," she said, softly, "When did Lynx join?" Ben answered this question, "After I left, about two years ago." He turned, expectantly, to Wolf. Wolf looked awkward. Then he thought of something. "Why aren't you living with her? This Starbright person, I mean." Alex immediately took off a shoe. Jack Starbright's death was a chapter in her life that she did _not_ want opening any time soon. "Why aren't you with your parents? Or other family? Why am _I_ stuck with you?" growled Wolf.

"Whoa, there, Wolf. What about my turn?" asked Alex. Then she saw Wolf's trademark glare, and decided to answer the questions. "I don't really have any other family. As far as I know, Ian was my only Uncle and he never married or had kids. I don't think I have any other family on my Mum's side. Ian died, just before I decided to grace your presence in Brecon Beacons. As for living with my parents… let's just say there isn't much room in their graves for me to slip in." Wolf gaped at Alex. "They're _dead_?" Alex snorted. "No, Wolf, they're conducting an experiment on how to live underground for seventeen years. Of course they're dead. Been like that for as long as I know. Now, Snake, what's your name? And please stop staring at me."

"My name is Cory. Cory Smith. But forget that, how did your parents die at such an early age?" Alex promptly kicked off her other shoe. "Lynx? Your name?" she prompted. Lynx stared at her, dumbfounded, then shook himself. "That's not important. Who assassinated you?" Alex peeled off a sock, making Wolf blow his top. "Cub! Go on like this and you'll end up naked! You've got to answer some questions!"

Alex saw red. "Oh, I've _got_ to? Why? Why should I tell any of you anything? It's not like you need to know!"

"We are supposed to be protecting you! You need to trust us!" Wolf's voice was getting dangerously louder.

"And what a fine job of protecting me you're doing. You don't even care about what happened last week, Wolf! And what reasons have any of you given me to trust you? All you did in Brecon Beacons was bully me, and all you're doing now is pestering."

Eagle stood up. "What about last week? We dropped everything we were doing and came to help you. We saved you from a guy who was going to _knife_ you. Is that not reason enough?" he said calmly. Alex screamed in frustration and stamped upstairs. "Well," stated Eagle, "I think we can say that we have experienced our first teenage tantrum, courtesy of Cub!"

* * *

Alex was fuming in her room. _They have no right to pry into my personal life. Who do they think they are, my parents?_ She stopped pacing her room when she heard the door knock. "Who is it?" she called out. It was Ben. He came in and sat on her bed. "Sorry," he said, simply. Alex stared at him. ""Sorry"! Is that all you have to say? You knew how hard I would find that, yet you didn't lift a single finger to stop it."

"I know. Like I said, sorry. But Wolf really cares about you, in his own, weird way. We all do. If we just knew more about you, we could make your life much easier."

"So you're trying to bribe me, now? Typical of MI6."

"I'm not trying to bribe you! And what do you mean, "typical of MI6"?"

Alex sat down on her bed, next to Ben. "Jack was American. She technically wasn't a British citizen. Her visa was running out. When Ian died, I found out about him being a spy for MI6. They tested me. Saw how good I was. Then they threatened me, told me that they would deport Jack if I didn't do the missions they asked. Every, single, _fucking_, time, they took away my chance of being normal by threatening me." Ben frowned. "Why couldn't you let Jack be deported? She wasn't family or anything…" Alex glared at him. "You're wrong Ben. She was family. She was the only person I had left." Alex was silent for a while. Then she looked at Ben. "Do you know how to swim, Ben?" Ben nodded, confused. "If you saw someone drowning, you'd help, right?" Ben nodded again. "When I was fourteen, I had lost all my family. Ian had gone and I never saw my parents. I couldn't swim and Jack saw that. She could have gone back to America, leaving me to a world of foster homes. But she looked at me and she could tell what I was going through. She saw me drowning, Ben, and she held out her hand. And even at fourteen, I understood that just one hand can change everything. Jack was my lifeline. And that's why, when she died…" Alex broke off, willing her eyes to stop flowing with tears.

Ben put a hand on her shoulder. "Tell me," he said, gently.

* * *

Ben was downstairs, explaining to everyone what had happened, while Alex was asleep. "-and the truck blew up with her guardian, and Cub was watching the whole time!" he finished, explosively. Wolf and Eagle were staring at him, aghast, as Snake paced the room. Lynx had his hands folded, eyes unfocused. Then, they heard a slow clapping from the back of the room. "Well done, Ben. Way to gain my trust. I pour out my soul to you and this is how you repay me?" Ben looked at Alex, unabashed. "Well, you never told me to keep it secret. I didn't break anyone's trust," he grinned at Alex. She, surprisingly, grinned back at him. "I hope you had fun listening to that tale. But, unfortunately for you, it's all bull," she remarked. Ben raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really, Cub? I don't think so. I have been trained to tell when people are lying, and you certainly weren't."

"Ah, but I have been trained to lie, and I certainly _was._"

"Bullshit. You were crying."

"Just applied eye drops."

"You were sobbing in my arms!"

"Ever heard of something called a cover story?"

The argument went on and on, and Eagle was watching them both like a tennis match. Finally, he decided he had had enough. "Shut up, the pair of you!" Alex, we know the story was real. We also understand what you've gone through. We _are_ SAS men. We just… wouldn't have expected it from someone of such a small age. If you ever need to talk about it…" he gestured to the group of men, secretly thinking that he wanted to be Alex's secret confidante.

Alex passed a hand over her face. She sat down, resting ever-so-slightly on Eagle, who turned to her. "Wait. Sobbing in his arms?!" Alex snorted. "He made that up. I don't sob, much less in anyone's arms.

"Is that why Fox's shirt is soaked?"

"We had a water fight, that's all!"

"You tell yourself that, Cub. Now, go to bed."

Alex obeyed her guardian, who seemed to have warmed up to her a little more. She pause at the door and turned to the SAS men. "G'night," she whispered. Then she fled upstairs, the burden on her shoulders considerably less than before.

* * *

_**Short but sweet. So tell me what you think! What can I improve on? What do you think is going on with the man and the knife? coincidence? Maybe... And Wolf is getting nicer!**_

_**So, TTFN, Ta ta for now and**_

_**Ta ra from your favourite banana x**_


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hey guys! Sorry I haven't updated for a long time. But I have a reason. My best friend's grandpa died and she's been staying at my house because her's is full of relatives grieving :( So I couldn't update at that point. But, I have added a character, after my friend. If she's reading this, then I hope she does you justice :)**

**Thank you to the amazing people who even gave this story a chance, it's much appreciated, even if I don't always reply to you.**

**And I have realised that, after reading this on the website, it seems a lot longer when I write it. So I did try making it longer, but a short update is better than no update, no? And I won't be able to update this very regularly because of revision and exams :( But I will try. So on with the story!**

**Disclaimer: I had a dream, last night, that I owned Alex Rider. But, unfortunately, it was just that: a dream**

* * *

"_She's a rebel, She's a saint, She's the salt of the earth and she's dangerous…"_

Alex hummed along to the song as she trudged through the park. Life was good at the moment. No one had tried attacking her. She had Wolf had been getting along a lot better, now. They were actually making civilized conversation. Sure, he wasn't all sunshine and rainbows, but she had never really expected that of Wolf. _No,_ she smile_, life wasn't bad at all._ She closed her eyes and spread out her arms. After peeking and making sure she was alone in the small allotment by the park, she whirled round and round, yelling the song at the top of her voice: "She's a rebel, vigilante, missing link, on the br-"

"Hello."

Yelping, Alex fell to the ground in a dizzy heap and squinted up at the tall figure in front of her.

"Sorry! I'll help you up. I'm so sorry. I just saw you over here and I usually come here with my friends and I was wondering what you were doing. I didn't mean to make you fall over," it protested. Alex was helped to her feet so she could see the appearance of her attacker. "It" turned out to be a girl with shoulder-length blonde hair, buck-teeth and blue eyes. She held smiled hesitantly. Alex, feeling sorry for the poor, blundering girl, smiled back. "Don't worry about it," she assured her, "It's my own fault for not paying attention. I'm Alex." The girl almost sighed with relief. "I'm Emily. I live round the corner. Like I said, I come here with my friends a lot. I just came here for a jog today, though. With my uncle," she rattled off. Alex laughed. "Do you want to get an ice cream, Emily?" she asked. Emily's brow furrowed, and then cleared. "Sure," she replied, "But we'll wait for my uncle. He can pay for us."

The two girls chatted for a bit after Emily explained that her uncle was old and very slow. Alex found out that she had been living in Birmingham for pretty much all her life. She had made a habit of taking a jog in the afternoon. Her "old and very slow" uncle had come to visit. It was only after his retirement that he came to visit her more often. Before, his job preoccupied him too much.

Their friendly conversation came to an end when Emily jumped up from the bench and ran to an old, bleak man, shouting, "Uncle!" Alex chuckled to herself as she walked towards Emily and her uncle, who had his back turned towards her. She just caught the end of Emily's mindless chatter. "-And she's moved in with a new guardian and she's so cool! Did I mention that her name is Alex? Well, it is!"

Alex laughed again and walked in front of the man. "Hi! As Emily might have explained, I'm- Oh _holy shit!"_ She stared at the man in front of her, someone she thought, _hoped_, she would never see again: the inevitable Alan Blunt.

He blinked down in confusion, perhaps the only emotion he had ever shown to her. "Alex? What are you doing _here_?" he asked, momentarily shook. Then his face cleared and became blank. "I mean, I hope you are enjoying Birmingham, Miss Rider. How have you been?"

Emily glanced at her uncle, before turning to Alex, who was still shell-shocked. "You… know each other?" she enquired, with a look of wonder and apprehension on her face. Alex nodded slowly.

"Yeah. You could say that. I know your uncle very well," she said, looking at Blunt. He nodded, signalling she could tell Emily some of what had happened in the past. Alex turned to Emily. "I worked for him when I was fourteen."

* * *

"So… this is nice," drawled Wolf lamely, trying to spark conversation between the ex-head of MI6, his niece and her new friend. Alex glared at him. Blunt looked coolly out of the window while Emily bit her finger nails nervously, terrified by the huge SAS man in front of her. "I never thought I would see you again, Mr Blunt. What have you been up to?"

"I have been enjoying my retirement, Mr Montez. I'm trying to spend more time with my niece. Her father has mentioned that I didn't come across very well as a family man. My job inhibited my visits here," replied Alan, frowning slightly.

"Do you have family of your own?" Alex blurted out. This was something she had constantly wondered, but Blunt's previous superiority over her meant she couldn't ask. He was such a cold man when he was working, devoid of emotion and heart. She wanted to know how he became like that, and if he was different at home. "I have a wife. Her name is Alice. She has been very good to me and she always understood that my work was of difficult nature and never questioned what I did. Much like your own mother," he added, looking at Alex. "She has always been incapable of bearing children. And, harsh as it may sound, this made my job easier. But I have always regretted never experiencing fresh youth around me again. Perhaps, my never having children meant that I was more at ease than Jones when employing you. But I'm sorry about that, Alex. I'm sorry about Jack. I never meant for it to go so far, initially," he said, imploring Alex to look at him.

"That never stopped you," remarked Alex coldly. Emily glanced at her and Wolf flinched. However, deep down, she saw that Blunt was truly apologising. "I hope it will never stop you and Emily becoming friends. And please feel free to talk to me. I may not have any more control over MI6, but I do know the best therapists…" he trailed off. Alex nodded her acceptance, though her eyes were still frosty.

Emily gently tugged at Blunt's sleeve. "Uncle, I think we should go now. Mum will have made lunch by now," she told him. He nodded and they stood up. They said goodbye to Alex and Wolf, who waved them out of the house. Alex walked back into the kitchen and sat down wearily and remarked to Wolf, "It's amazing: Alan Blunt might actually be human!"

* * *

"Eagle, for the last time, I am _not_ playing strip poker with you!"

"Oh, getting all prim and proper, are we, Miss Priss?"

"If the only company I have is you, then yes!"

Eagle grinned and slung an arm around Alex, who rolled her eyes and moved to the next couch. K-Unit always made a point of a "private unit meeting" every other weekend. Ever since Alex joined them, one of the five would be on "guard duty". Unfortunately for Alex, this week was Eagle.

"Anyway, aren't you supposed to be checking on the chicken in the oven right now?" she asked, trying to get him to forget about strip poker. Eagle sighed.

"I don't understand you, Alex. I mean, here am I, a fit, healthy, amazing man who could protect you at any sign of danger. I'm fun and can make you less serious and sad. And I can be serious when I have to. So why don't you like me?" he pleaded. Although it was said in jest, Alex could see the rejection in his eyes. She sighed.

"It's not that I don't like you Eagle."

"Then what is it? You know we'd be good together."

"We really wouldn't. Number one, look at the age difference. Number two, it's plain dangerous to be around me. I've already told you about all the stuff I've been involved in and too many people have been dragged into my messy life. I don't want that for any more people. And number three… is that smoke I smell?" she finished off, wrinkling her nose. Eagle swore and jumped up, running to the kitchen. A few minutes later, he ran back to Alex. "Do you mind particularly if we get pizza, today?" he asked, ruefully.

* * *

"And then he screamed at me, telling me that I was making his tea all wrong! I swear your guardian should see a counsellor. He has anger issues," declared Eagle, taking a huge bite into his pizza. Alex threw her head back and laughed at the pathetic expression on his face.

"Eagle…"

"I told you, Alex, call me Matt."

"Right. You've got sauce on your face."

"I have?" Eagle wiped his face, spreading the red sauce out even more. Alex giggled and leaned forward. "Now you've gone and covered your whole face in it! God, you're such a child. Come here."

Eagle dutifully leaned closer to Alex, who scrubbed his face with a napkin. "There," she said, admiring her handiwork, "Pretty as a princess." Eagle playfully poked her in the ribs, and then started to tickle her. She laughed, trying to peel his hands off her, but he carried on, relentless. Finally, she cried, "Mercy! I surrender! Stop!", and they fell back, breathing heavily. Eagle turned to Alex and pushed back the long locks of hair fanned over her face. She smiled gently as his fingers traced her cheek, but they were interrupted by someone shouting.

"I've told you already, I can't do it! I have Cub on my hands already. What exactly were you planning on doing with her if we go back?"

"We'll have to figure something out. Sarge's orders always go. And you're duty bound to the SAS first, not MI6."

Eagle shot Alex a worried glance and got up. Alex followed him. They walked into the kitchen, to find Wolf and Lynx glaring at each other, while Snake and Fox sat at the back looking anxious.

"What's going on?" asked Eagle. Wolf growled and pointed at Lynx. "_He_ has heard from the Sergeant. Apparently, we're wanted back at camp for a few weeks." He looked murderous.

"But I don't see how that's a problem," Lynx said, "Wolf himself has said that he wants to do something worthwhile. You've all been complaining about how bored you're getting, so I'll ask again: what is the problem?"

"The problem is that I, your unit leader, have a new responsibility. We can't just ignore that!" yelled Wolf. Lynx glanced at Alex. "She is seventeen. She's handled worse situations than being left at home alone for six weeks. She can cope," he said, bluntly. Wolf nearly tore out his hair in frustration. "The whole reason for having Cub here is so I can protect her if something dangerous happens. What if something _does_ happen when I'm not here? Who's going to care f- protect her, I mean?"

A lazy smile curled on Lynx's face. "You really are worried about her, aren't you? What happened to the "lazy, good-for-nothing brat" view?" A dull flush spread across Wolf's dark face. He opened his mouth to speak, but Alex got in there before him. "Can you both stop talking like I'm not in the room? I can hear what you're all saying! When does the Sergeant want you?" she interrupted.

"Three months from now, in April."

"And you'll be gone for six weeks, correct?"

"That's right."

"Then it's simple! MI6 are my legal guardians until I'm eighteen, and that's in February. After that, they bog off; I can do what I want and Wolf is free. Lynx is right, I can protect myself. You don't have to worry about me at all," pronounced Alex. Wolf looked in astonishment at her. "We don't have to worry about you? Cub, forgive me if I'm wrong, but you have some of the biggest and most dangerous underworld criminals after you! Somehow, that gives me something to worry about!" he said. Alex looked faintly amused and smiled at Wolf in a patronising way, telling him that he really was the least of her worries. He glowered back at her.

Snake interrupted their staring competition. "I think we should leave it for now, Wolf. We're all very tired. It's best that we sleep on it. Come on Fox, Eagle, Lynx."

Eagle, who was lounging lazily on a chair, bounded up and gave Alex a side-hug. "Ok. We can all go for coffee, maybe," he said. Alex nodded and he went out, followed by the rest of his teammates. When they had gone, Wolf groaned and wearily rubbed his face. Then he went to a cupboard and got out a bottle of something suspiciously alcoholic looking. Alex raised her eyebrows and sat down in front of him.

"So alcohol really makes it all better, makes the pain go away, does it?" she asked him sarcastically. Wolf looked at her angrily.

"One day, Cub, you'll learn how much it can do. It's a lifeline. All the shitty things that happen in life can blind you. It's a dark, endless hole and this is the only way you can climb out," Wolf replied, gesturing at the open bottle. Alex snorted.

"I wasn't asking for an epiphany. But, my best friend's mum was alcoholic. She was the worst parent you could have imagined. She claimed that it smoothed out the rough edges. Trouble is," she grimaced, "If she was any smoother, she would have to roll around instead of walking." Wolf chuckled, but didn't let go of the bottle.

"You're too young to understand, Cub."

"Is that so? So, the fact that I've been working for MISO since I was fourteen, the fact that I've killed more people than I can count on my fingers, the fact that I have nearly died so many times in my life, doesn't change my maturity? I'm just a kid, who hasn't seen enough of the world to know about these things, is that it? Because, from where I'm standing, I think I'm a lot older than you in that sense. I'm pretty sure that I've seen more than you."

Wolf took a huge swig out of the bottle, the fifth one since Alex started to talk.

"You're not my mother, Cub."

"Thank God for that. But I'm serious. I told you everything about me. But I don't know anything about you past your name."

"I don't want to tell you. You're not supposed to hear it."

"You weren't supposed to hear anything about my life. But you did. Fair's fair, Wolf. At least tell me why you're so dubious about going back. It can't just be because you care about me. Something is inhibiting you. I want to know what it is!"

Wolf dropped the empty bottle on the table. "I'm sorry, Cub. But I don't want to tell you." He made his way upstairs, but hesitated at the stairs. "Maybe it's best for you to stay at a friend's house this weekend. I have stuff to discuss with my unit."

* * *

_Come on, come on, where are you?_ Alex wondered, her eyes searching the roads outside the station. It was Saturday morning. Alex was standing in the pouring rain with her suitcase and she was shivering with cold. She had already got his text, saying he would be here in a few minutes. But minutes were passing by fast and Alex was worried.

Suddenly, she tensed. There was someone following her, watching her. It was a poor job of stalking. Every once in a while, she caught a glimpse of dark hair flitting through the crowd, or deep green eyes trained on her. The presence was behind her, she knew it.

"Hello, Tom," Alex said turning round and catching the stalker's arm with a grin. The stalker, who was dressed in camouflage style clothes looked up at her and grinned. "Alex! Come on, you're getting cold. We're going in my car," he rambled. Alex chuckled fondly, letting herself be dragged away by her best friend from birth. Wolf had agreed, _finally, _that Alex could go to London to see Tom, seeing as she was out of his hair for the weekend. She was going to stay with Tom. He had moved in with Jerry, who had come down to London, to get away from his parents' lives. They were divorced but they were still almost as bad alone as they were in each other's presence.

She laughed as Tom cracked his trademark jokes, making light of everything he knew. This weekend was going to be fun with a capital everything.

* * *

_**So there it is! Please tell me what you think would be good for the story. I have a few moments with Tom up my sleeve as well ;) And also, the thing with Alan Blunt. He's always portrayed as... well, not human, and I've always wondered what he might be like if the two were to meet again, under different circumstances. Did you like the idea? And finally, does the whole thing seem really fast-paced? **_

_**Please review and tell me what I can do better, but until next time,**_

_**Ta ra from your favourite banana x**_


	7. AN

**Hi!**

**I'm really sorry that this isn't an update, but I've had quite a bit of work to do. I've still got loads. According to my English teacher, I have a lot of things to work on. Naturally, he's set me five essays more than the rest of the class. Whoopee.**

**But don't despair! I've written a little one-shot to go with this story, because I didn't have time for a whole chapter. Go check it out, it's called "Dead Good Party". Here's a little sneak-peek for you:**

"Oh, she will _die_ at this. I'm so excited!" said a voice. Alex frowned. That sounded oddly like Ben.

"Definitely. I've even hired professionals. They're called _The Killers_. What about that?" That was Eagle.

"They're murderous. I've seen them, live. And when they're done, you can't even scream at them. They are that good," stated Lynx.

"She completely deserves what she's getting," put in Snake. Wolf made a noise of approval.

"Then it's sorted. February 13th is when she will die..."

**Please review it and tell me what you think!**

**Ta ra from your favourite banana x**


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hi! I'm so sorry I haven't been able to update. I'm pretty sure you can guess why, so I won't go into that. Just a quick recap, in case you've forgotten what happened in the last chapter: K-Unit has been called back for duty, Wolf is worried and Alex has gone to stay with Tom. I know I said that I'd write about what they got up to, but I found it sounded immature and... pathetic, if I'm being honest with myself. Maybe I'll save it for another day.**

**Disclaimer: My Mama told me when I was young, we are all born superstars. I though that included me owning Alex Rider. Evidently, not.**

* * *

"Alex. Alex. Alexis. Alexis Rider. Do I need to use your full name? Fine! ALEXIS HELEN RIDER!"

"Wuh?"

Alex was snapped out of her reverie to see Tom waving his hand in front of her. Alex was staying with him until things had calmed down at Wolf's house. They were staying at Jerry's house because Jerry had permanently moved from Italy.

Tom was standing next to a girl in heels. "This," he said with a proud gesture, "is Franki." The girl gave Alex a long, withering look, which she returned. The girl had a bright, orange fake tan and a short dress that didn't leave much to the imagination. She had heaps of eye makeup on. In fact, there wasn't much of her real skin visible to Alex.

"Hi. I'm Alex," grinned Alex, deciding to be polite to the girl in front of her.

"Yeah. Whatever. Tom, why didn't you tell me she was coming?"

"I'm sorry, babe. It was at short notice."

"Mm. Is she staying long?"

"Just for the weekend. You don't mind do you?"

"Well-"

"Um, you do realise that I'm here, don't you?" interrupted Alex. Franki gave her another look. Alex merely shot her eyebrows up and turned to Tom. "She's your girlfriend?" she asked him.

"Yep. What do you think?"

"Wow," was Alex's honest reply.

"Oh, thanks, hon. Tom. What were we planning on doing today?"

Tom shuffled uncomfortably.

"Well, I thought that we could go to the carnival?"

Franki shrieked. Alex instantly put up her guard; ready to fight any assassins or terrorists, or whatever else they planned on sending her. When nothing happened, she looked to Franki, who was shaking her hands in desperation.

"Ew, OMG! I can't go to, like, a carnival. It's all, you know," she paused, then whispered, "muddy."

Alex tried not to burst out in laughter.

"Come on, Franki. It will be fun!"

"What, so, like, ruining my new Louis Vuitton shoes and Prada handbag will be fun?" she hissed. Tom looked crestfallen.

"What did you want to do, baby?"

Franki gave him a shiny smile and grabbed his collar, putting her mouth to his ear.

"I was thinking that you and me can go for a nice dinner. Candlelight. We'll have starters and mains. Then we'll go back to my house, light some candles, play some music and have dessert… if you get what I mean," she whispered in a seductive voice, using her other hand to pull suggestively at Tom's jeans.

Alex snorted as the blushing Tom gulped and nearly had an orgasm on the spot. He was such a sucker for slutty girls. He took a step back and trembled. "S-sure, baby. We'll do that. Alex can go to the carnival with Jerry. I'm sure she won't miss me for one day. We did stuff yesterday so it's ok, right, Lex?"

Alex sighed and put on a false smile. "Sure, Tom. Go and enjoy yourself."

Franki screamed again. "Omigod, thank you so much, hon."

Alex stopped herself from rolling her eyes as she watched her best friend and his girlfriend walk out of the flat. Then she turned and walked to the sitting room, where Jerry was eating his breakfast.

"Pizza for breakfast? Seriously, Jerry?"

Jerry looked up from his cold, half eaten pizza. He shrugged. "Nothing else to eat."

Alex sighed. "I'm guessing that we'll have pizza for lunch and dinner."

"Yep, unless you think of something else. Where's Tom?"

"Gone off for the day with his new girlfriend. We were going to go to the carnival, but she promised him mind-blowing sex and whoop! There goes my day with my best friend," she sighed and sat down next to Jerry.

"Mind-blowing sex? She actually said that?"

"I read between the lines. It wasn't that hard, to be honest. But today, we are going to the carnival, and you are going to entertain me. You will make me forget that Tom has abandoned me and we are going to have a good time. Then we will go shopping, buy some food, come back and I will make a nice dinner. You won't complain at all and you will come with me on every single ride. You will also buy me a teddy bear. I want to at least_ look_ like I'm having a good time. Understand?"

Jerry looked at her, uninterested. "Suit yourself. I have nothing better to do."

"Brilliant. Now, go and have a shower. When was the last time that you actually had one?"

"Last week, probably. But I washed my privates every day."

"Ew. Too much information, mate."

* * *

Alex winced at the bright pink teddy that Jerry was surveying. "Go on, mate. The pink will really bring out your girlfriend's eyes," cajoled the vender.

Alex jumped in. "He's really not my boyfriend. I pity the girl who can say she is. Jerry, that one is pathetic. It's pink. I hate pink. You have to buy me the blue one with the lightning on it," she demanded. Jerry sighed and handed over the teddy to Alex, after paying "a considerable fortune" for it.

"Where would you like to go next, Your Majesty?" he asked, in a sarcastic voice.

"No need to be sarky, peasant. I want to go on the Ferris wheel."

Alex led Jerry over to the Ferris wheel. As they stood in line, Alex listened to the mindless conversations of the people around her.

"…And then he asked me if I wanted to go out with him, and I was like, 'you're a nerd! Get lost!'"

"…Mrs Britton just wouldn't give us a straight answer. I mean, it's simple. We either need to learn it for the exam or we don't!"

"…Look, she's just in front of us. This may be the last chance you get!"

"It's a carnival. We can't just turn up inside the Ferris wheel with this thing and expect to get away with it!"

This last conversation caught Alex's attention. Discretely, she turned her head. She could see two people talking, using flamboyant hand signs to gesture their conflict. She shrugged, guessing that the two men were planning on asking a girl out or something.

They finally got to the end of the queue. Jerry paid for their ticket and they took a seat. Alex grinned at Jerry, who looked very annoyed. "Having fun?" she said with a toothy smile. He grunted and shuffled in his seat.

"Been, doing anymore missions lately?" he asked as the Ferris wheel began to move. Alex looked scandalized.

"Jerry, you can't just ask me like that! Anyone could hear!"

"Yeah, right. We're on a Ferris wheel. I really doubt it."

"You'd be surprised," Alex said, mysteriously. Jerry rolled his eyes.

"So, have you been doing anything exciting of late?"

"I'd hardly say that multiple essays and algebra was exciting."

"You know what I mean."

"Well," Alex began, but was cut off by a pop, followed by a faint, metallic twang. She turned around in her seat in confusion. Then, she looked up. The two men she had heard earlier were in the seat above her. They gave her a small smile and she turned around. Before she could carry on with her conversation with Jerry, there was another pop and twang. Alex turned around once more. This time, one man was lighting a cigarette and the other was glancing into the distance. Alex frowned, keeping her eyes on them for a bit longer. As soon as she turned away, she heard the sounds again. _What the fuck?_

She whipped round quickly, catching sight of one of them stuffing a sleek, silver object up his sleeve.

_A gun._

Fear took over Alex's body.

_Gun. MI6. Blood. Scorpia. Jack. Jack. Jack. Ja-_

"Alex, get down!"

Jerry was screaming at her, drawing her away from the memories. She snapped out of her trance. Instead of getting down as Jerry was suggesting she took off the safety bar and stood up. The Ferris wheel had long since stopped and pandemonium had spread like wildfire. People were screaming.

She jumped out of the cart and hung off the bar of the cart above her. One of the men was clearly holding a gun at her and the other was stamping at her fingers. She swung herself up and kicked him in the stomach, barely missing the next bullet.

The guy she kicked in the stomach, who she decided to name Cigarette, was whimpering in pain. She was in the cart now, fists clenched and bouncing on the balls of her feet. The man holding the gun was trembling, his hands were shaking as he aimed at her. Alex was very aware that the cart was swaying under her feet, as well as the fact that they were a very long way above the ground. She mentally shook herself and focussed on the killing machine in front of her. But instead of trying to act like a superhero in a film and knock the gun out of his hands, she talked to him.

"Who are you? What do you want from me? Is it my money?" she asked in a frightened voice. If she was just picked out of the blue to be victimized, she might have a better chance of surviving.

"D-don't pretend to be a s-scared teenager, Alex R-rider. We know who you are," replied the gun-man. He was evidently terrified. It really didn't help him. Inwardly, Alex sighed in relief. She knew she wasn't going to die today. "Gun-man" had already made a huge mistake by talking back to her, making her a person rather than a mere target. The fear in his eyes was as obvious as a drop of blood in snow. He didn't have the guts to kill her, or anybody.

"What do you want from me?" she asked again. She still wanted to know why they wanted her dead.

"You killed our brother. We _will_ kill you, A-Alex Rider," was Gun-man's answer. Alex shook her head and laughed. Did they really know nothing about killing people? It was at this moment that she took action. She rammed her head into his stomach, catching him out. She suspected that he thought she would attempt to kick him in the balls. Fat lot of good that would do for her. He would only catch her foot and toss her out. Job done.

Gun-man gave a cry as he fell to the ground, unconscious. She gave out a whoosh of air and surveyed the body at her feet. This, she found out later, was a bad move. Cigarette was off the ground in an instant, taking advantage of her weak moment. He kicked her behind the knees and she buckled with a sharp cry. Cigarette stood in front of her, holding out a knife. She crawled back, pretending to cry in fear. Cigarette stopped short by the edge of the cart, confused. He didn't expect her to start crying, seeing as she had just knocked out Gun-man with such ease. Alex reacted at once by jumping up and swinging her fist up at his jaw. He fell over the side of the cart, wearing a surprised expression. Soon, an evident _splat_ was heard, followed by childrens' screams at the blood trickling across the ground.

Moments later, Alex was off the Ferris wheel with Jerry and an unconscious body in her arms. She walked over to the bloody body on the floor and knelt down to examine him. First, she lifted up his shirt. There were no marks or tattoos to indicate where he was from. His body was surprisingly unharmed for a supposed killer. She checked his arms and legs and found nothing. She got up and was about to walk away, when she saw something glinting in the light. Frowning, she bent down. It was the knife. She picked it up and observed it. There was something about it, something that she recognised…

Then, it clicked. She reached into her bag and pulled out another knife, the one from the attack by the school bully and his cronies. When she held them together, she saw the similarity. In fact, they were exactly the same. The hilt encrusted with fake jewels, the shape, the size… When she turned them over, she saw that they both had the same initials engraved into the blade: _AG._

This meant that Cigarette was the guy who had attacked her before with the knife! She thought it was odd. A knife in mere kid's fight was not usual. She grimaced, brushing the wound on her ear, before turning to Jerry. "We're going to have to call the bank," she said with a meaningful look on her face, "We have a lot of stuff to discuss."

* * *

Jerry was sitting next to Alex, wishing that his little brother's best friend wasn't involved in this. She was seventeen, for Christ's sakes! How was she expected to deal with this?

Yet a small voice was whispering in his ears. _Tom got shot. You nearly did, too. How much more trouble is this girl going to cost your family?_

Jerry shook away the contempt he was feeling for Alex. This was hardly her fault. It sucked, but there was nothing that anyone could do about it.

All he could do was wait.

* * *

"Well, let's get down to business, shall we? As you already know, 'Cigarette' is dead and 'Gun-man' is unconscious for the moment, so they're no help to us. However, Alex, you can probably inform us of what has been happening. Did you notice anything about the two men that indicate that they are Scorpia based?" asked Mrs Jones.

Alex blinked. "No."

"Did you examine their bodies at all?"

"Yes. Actually, it was really strange. They were almost completely unblemished. No scars, no wounds, nothing. I expected something on their bodies to indicate their criminal activities, but I found nothing."

"Yes. That is quite strange."

"Haven't _you_ examined their bodies?"

"Our agents have, yes. But their attention levels are not quite up to your standard," she smiled, briefly.

Alex tried to tamper down the unmistakable blush at the, albeit it subtle, compliment. Mrs Jones carried on with the interrogation.

"Did anything about their behaviour surprise you?"

"Definitely. They were so… scared. I'm guessing that the attack was also on instinct, because I heard them arguing about it in the line for the Ferris wheel. They had never killed before, that much was obvious. Gun-man talked to me. From my experience in Malagosto, you should never talk to the victim. That's really what stopped me from killing you," finished Alex meekly. Mrs Jones looked sympathetic, remembering that particular incident with clarity. She motioned for Alex to carry on.

"Cigarette had attacked me before, a few weeks back. He threw the same kind of knife at me and it grazed my ear." Mrs Jones nodded gravely.

"What did Gun-man tell you? Anything of importance?"

"He said that it was revenge because I killed their brother. But the thing is, I've killed so many people that I don't know who they're referring to. But the carving on the knife might help. I'm guessing that they're the initials of Cigarette," Alex replied, pushing the knife towards Mrs Jones.

"I know what you're thinking, Alex. But it can't be that. You think that these people are the siblings of Yassen Gregorovitch. But it's not. Yassen was an only child," she said as soon as she saw the initials.

"I guess that's one less person from the list. Just another few hundred to go," remarked Alex with a degree of sarcasm. Mrs Jones winced.

"I think it's best for you to go back to Wolf. Tell him what's happened. He can protect you."

* * *

"Alex? How was Tom's? Did you have fun? Alex?"

Alex sighed with exasperation. Ever since she had arrived back at Wolf's, she had been plagued with questions. She was surprised that no one had noticed her bandaged hand. She had to get it wrapped up because Cigarette had stamped pretty hard on her hand.

Famous last words.

"Cub, what's up with your hand?"

Damn.

"It's nothing Snake."

"Really? Because it doesn't look like nothing from where I'm standing."

"Then you might want to move from where you're standing. Seriously, it's fine."

"For God's sake!"

"Oh, piss off. I'm going upstairs," she shot back at Snake, and then went upstairs. Ben rolled his eyes at her retreating figure.

"She really is moody, isn't she?"

"Probably her time of the month," said Lynx with a grin.

"Thanks," said Ben, "Not a mental image I needed. What do you think is wrong, Eagle?"

But Eagle wasn't in the room. Ben huffed. He had probably gone to the kitchen to get more popcorn. Of course, he was too immature to talk about Alex's plights.

In fact, contrary to the beliefs of the rest of the unit, Eagle was walking up the stairs, towards Alex's room. It was common knowledge in the house that Eagle fancied the pants off Alex. He was determined to be more than Alex's guardian's friend. And he was going to build up a trust with Alex. Anything to be closer to her.

He knocked on the door. Upon hearing a muffled, "Who is it?" he walked in. Alex was sitting on the bed, looking out of the window. Inwardly, Eagle shivered. She was so beautiful, yet so ghostly. Her pale skin seemed to glow, her blue eyes were like crystals and her shiny black hair framed her face like a stormy cloud engulfing the Sun.

He realised that he was staring at Alex, really living up to the "Cullen" stereotype. He walked over to the bed and sat down in front of her. She took in a deep breath.

"What do you want, Matt?"

_Matt. She called him Matt. She had never done that before._

"I wanted to check if you're ok."

"My hand's fine."

"I wasn't talking about that. Something has obviously upset you. I want to know what." Alex looked at him, a ghost of a smile tracing her chapped lips.

"Have you heard of Hercules?"

"Come again?"

"I'm like Hercules. It's really weird. We could be related to each other, we have so many similarities."

Eagle looked at her in bemusement. "Tell me a story," he said. She looked slightly bewildered. He carried on. "Tell me about Hercules."

Alex looked doubtful. This was another "Eagle" request. A stupid, pointless thing that was immature and silly. But she decided to humour him. Anything to get him, get them all, off her back.

"Hercules' father was Zeus. His mother was mortal. Zeus was a God, the king of Gods. His wife, Hera, was pretty pissed that he had got off with another mortal, and that he made her pregnant. So she drove Hercules crazy. He killed his wife and six sons under Hera's influence. Then Hercules felt all guilty and went to this King to redeem himself. The King was an old fart who really hated poor Hercules, so he said to him that he needed to do twelve tasks in order to make peace with himself. Hercules thought that it would be cool. The tasks were probably community service or something. But he was really wrong.

He had to kill all these weird animals, like man-eating birds and a hydra. But good old Hercules was able to do all this crap that had been forced on him. Then, he was free. I think that that's where the analogy ends," she finished. Eagle looked confused.

"How the hell does this relate to you? You didn't have to kill hydras, did you? I'm pretty sure they don't exist."

Alex laughed bitterly. "No. Hydras don't exist. Worse things do. I'll explain.

Hercules' father was Zeus, the most amazing God of his time. My father was Hunter, the most amazing spy of his time. Zeus made a mortal pregnant. My dad married my mum, a mere radiologist. Hera was angry that Zeus was with another girl. MI6 was angry that John Rider got married. Hera made Hercules suffer great losses by killing off his wife and kids. MI6 got my dad, mum and uncle killed.

Hercules went to an old man to ask for his help in repenting. I went to Alan Blunt to get help. Hercules did twelve tasks, initially thinking that they were going to be easy. I got roped into MI6, thinking it was always going to be surveillance. He killed all these creatures and escaped. I… I killed so many people and achieved 100% success rate. But he was left alone after that. I'm not."

Eagle frowned. "I thought you're not working for MI6 anymore."

"I know. But they're not the one who won't leave me alone."

At Eagle's questioning look, she shook her head. "I'm not going to tell you, Matt. Not yet."

To her surprise, he shrugged. "OK. In your own time. Why do you look so surprised?"

"Snake worries about my injuries. Ben worries if I'm still sane. Even Wolf tends to pester me. But you. You just accept it. How?"

"I know what you've been through. We all do. When Wolf got injured when we were on tour, it was the worst experience of our lives. They all like to talk about it and sort out their problems like that. Except for Wolf, he's not exactly talkative. But I like to be left alone to think about stuff. So, I get you."

Alex smiled softly. "Sometimes, I think that you're the only one in this house that does."

Eagle grinned at that. They understood each other. That was the first step for Eagle. Now came step two.

"Doyouwunnagouwme?"

"Excuse me?"

Eagle took a deep breath and calmed himself. "D-do you want to g-go out with me?"

Alex opened her mouth.

Then paused.

_Come on, come on, come on..._

"Why not?"

* * *

_**Mwahahahaha! Am I evil or am I evil? I know that a lot of you wanted Eagle and Alex to get together. Well, you'll just have to wait, mes amis. Oh, and to **_**espor1066_, thank you for your idea! It will probably come along in the next chapter. And who are the two rubbish killers? What about Wolf's drinking problem? Please don't expect an update in the next two weeks, as I'm going to be really busy. Also, as I didn't get too many reviews for the last chapter. Please tell me what you like about this story and what you don't. It will really help to shape the story. Oh, and thank you to _GrammarFreak_, for the help. My English teacher has been feeding me lies! But I hope I was better in this chapter. And, eh up, 3601 words! My longest yet..._**

**_Ta ra from your favourite banana x_**


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hey! So I was bogged down with exams but I'm free now, so I can update a bit more! And thank you for the 7 reviews for the last chapter, it's the most I had! I hope you're pleased with this chapter, it's got Eagle and Alex fluff and shizzle. So read on, my friends!**

**Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure that even if I changed my name, age and attached a pair of danglies to my you-know-where, I still wouldn't be closer to owning Alex Rider.**

* * *

Alex,_ Alex, Alex. What were you thinking? A date with Eagle?_

This singular thought was circulating her Alex's mind as she wiped down the tables in the busy café. Thinking back to the moment, she felt she must have been emotionally deranged to accept to go out with a soldier who had thought she was a boy for three years of her life.

But going out with a soldier might have its up sides. He was strong, fit and pretty hot. She could almost imagine him as a medieval knight, fighting off the enemies to save her, the damsel in distress.

_Damn it, Alex, you're getting soft. He's really not that special. You don't know him that well. One date isn't going to change that._

This mental duologue dragged Alex through her shift. When she glanced at the clock, she groaned. She might as well make herself look presentable, however hesitant she was about this whole thing. She walked back to Wolf's house with considerable pace and ran upstairs, making sure she didn't bump into him. It was still early morning by his standards and unless he had a cup of strong black coffee in his body, he would be grumpy as a provoked wasp.

She rummaged through her wardrobe, searching for something that would compliment her more than the black apron and bright yellow top she had to wear for the café. She decided on a pair of light blue cropped jeans and a black Guns N' Roses top. She didn't want to overdo the makeup, so chose a bit of black eyeliner and a slick of lip gloss. After all, it was only a date in the park.

Alex ran down the stairs. She was determined to be on time. Punctuality was one of her traits and she was not about to let a date with Eagle faze her. In her speed, however, she flew straight into Wolf's stomach.

Embarrassed, she lifted her eyes to meet his. His gaze was emotionless, but she was relieved that she couldn't detect any drunken haze. He lifted an eyebrow, casually. "And just where do you think you're going?" he asked. Alex gulped and walked towards the door.

"I'm just going out for a bit. I was going to meet a few friends, if that's ok," she replied. Wolf grinned.

"And you're sure you're not going to the park for a date with Eagle?" he asked with humour. Alex flushed and gaped. At this, Wolf rolled his eyes. "Eagle hasn't stopped texting any of us for the past twenty-four hours about his 'success'. In case you hadn't noticed, he's not really one to keep his mouth shut".

Alex let a smile seep across her face. It was amusing at how wrong Wolf was. She opened her mouth to ask him if she could go, but he cut her off.

"Go on. I guess you can go. I'm going out myself, anyway, so you won't be of any use in the house."

"Ooh! Who's the lucky lady?"

This time, Wolf blushed. "She's a friend that I've known from school. We've been going out for a few weeks, now."

"Aaah, a childhood crush. How sweet!"

"Yeah, yeah," Wolf snorted. He waved her off. But just as she was walking out of the door, he spoke again. "Cub? Sorry about… you know."

She nodded and walked out of the door.

* * *

Alex frowned as the seconds ticked by on her watch. She was sitting on a bench in a park that was very devoid of anything resembling her supposed date. He was nearly fifteen minutes late already and Alex was getting impatient. She didn't dress herself up and go girly-girl for nothing.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to her. What if he had changed his mind? What if he didn't want to meet her, so stood her up? She pulled out her phone and checked her messages from Eagle:

_So for our date, you wanna go to the park? Xx_

_Sure. The one around the corner from Wolf's house?_ she had replied.

_Yep. Can't wait to see you again!_

_Matt, we live a few minutes away…_

_Oh. Looking forward tho!_

Alex's frown deepened. He had seemed eager enough to go out with her. Heck, he was the one who had first asked her out. Maybe it was something she was doing wrong…

_Alright. Give him five more minutes and then leave._

So Alex waited. And waited. And waited some more. When she realised that Eagle's five minutes were up, she got up. Upon deciding that her efforts to look good shouldn't go wasted, she headed towards the Starbucks on the high street.

When she entered, the warm aroma of inviting coffee practically dragged her to the counter. She ordered a Strawberries and Cream Frappucino and went to sit down with it. As she sucked on the straw, she observed the people around her. The man who was not-so-subtly feeling up his girlfriend's leg. The teenager, whose face had been invaded by acne, playing on his Nintendo. The bald, fat bloke who was picking his nose. The smiling man with grass green eyes who was laughing with a pretty girl.

Wait…

Alex strained her eyes to get a better look at the couple. The man seemed familiar. The black hair that was fashionably cropped, the humorous green eyes, the muscular body… She got up and quietly walked towards their table, hoping to get a better look. And when she walked closer to them, she knew.

"Matt?"

The man looked up at her.

"Hi, Alex! What are you doing here?"

Alex closed her eyes for a few seconds. "Where were you?"

Matt frowned at her. "I was with Sophia over here."

He pointed to Sophia, an exotic, beautiful girl, who looked to be about twenty. Alex crinkled her brows.

"So, that's why you weren't in the park? You were with another girl?"

Sophia looked surprised. "You didn't tell me that you had a girlfriend, Matt?" she asked him questioningly. Alex looked mutinous.

"I'm not his fucking- oh, forget it. See you, _Eagle._"

* * *

Matt was feeling very, very guilty. He hadn't meant to stand up Alex. But he had met Sophia on the way from his house and just got caught up with talking to her. He and Sophia had been friends at school, best friends in fact, and hadn't seen each other in a long time. But they had always agreed that they would never be more than surrogate siblings. After all, beautiful as Sophia was, who would go out with a sister?

He rubbed his face and walked along the street, looking for Alex. He stopped by the park, where he was supposed to have met Alex. If he knew Alex well, which he wasn't very sure about, he knew she would come down here.

He walked around the field, trying to identify Alex from the many people who were playing football and having picnics. But he couldn't find her. So he walked further in, where the trees were more dense and tall.

"Alex? Alex, I'm sorry! Where are you?"

There was a rustle. He sighed when he realised that she wasn't coming out. Then he reached for his phone and dialled Alex's number.

"_I like big butts and I can not lie, you other brothers can't deny, that when a-"_

Matt chuckled silently, identifying Alex's curses. He heaved himself up the tree he was standing by. Then he hesitantly took a seat next to Alex.

"You like big butts, huh?"

"Shut up. Tom was messing with my phone."

"Yeah. I know the feeling. Lynx has done that to me one too many times."

Alex snorted. They sat in silence.

"I didn't mean to-"

"Why were you with-"

They blushed as the spoke at the same time. Then Eagle said, "Ladies first."

"Why were you with that Sophia girl?"

Eagle ran a hand through his hair, a troubled expression on his face.

"She's one of my mates. I've known her since secondary school. I haven't seen her in ages because of SAS and I had met her in Tesco's when I was buying, um…"

Alex raised an eyebrow. "You were buying…?"

"Lollipops. I was going to give it to you, because I didn't know what else you would like! I was going to go full out with the roses and a box of chocolates, but then I thought, 'Alex is a more minimalistic kind of girl, so what should I get her?' and because you kind of have to get something for the girl on the first da-"

He was cut off with a pair of smiling lips on his. Shocked, he froze. Alex pulled away.

"I forgive you, already. Now, come on, dummy".

With that, Matt pulled her closer and met her lips, tugging at them gently. It was a small, chaste kiss. It wasn't fiery and passionate. It wasn't slow and romantic. It was sweet and innocent and _just there_.

_And, _smirked Alex to herself_, it was a perfect one._

* * *

"You snogged a soldier."

"It wasn't _snogging_, it was-"

"You _snogged _a soldier."

"Tom, for fuck's sake, I didn't-"

"You _snogged_ a _soldier_! How the fuck did that come about?"

Alex sighed down the telephone. Although Tom was always the person she told if something happened, he really wore her out with his excitable habits and hyper ways.

"Fine, Tom. I snogged a soldier. Why is that so exciting, anyway?"

"I don't think it's excitable, more than plain freaking _weird!_ He thought that you were a boy until a few weeks ago. Not to mention that the last time you saw him, he was intent on making your life hell!"

Oh. _That_ was more understandable.

"I know, but he's so…so…"

"Completely confusing so the best thing you could think of was kissing him?"

"Yes. No! He's really sweet, once you get to know him. And you make sure that he doesn't get close to the chocolate. And that he doesn't act really high when you're around him…" Alex trailed off, tapping her fingers on the kitchen table.

Tom snorted. "So he's like an older me?"

"Wow. He is. Didn't think of that."

"So why didn't you date me, Alex? We are such good friends and you know how much I adore you," whined Tom, in a melodramatic pretence. Alex rolled her eyes.

"Three main differences, mate. He has the looks, brains and strength. You… not so much."

"Fuck off," replied Tom, amicably. "So you really think he's ok?"

"I do. And on the subject of girlfriends, how was it with Franki?"

Alex could practically hear Tom blushing.

"Can't answer that. I'm babysitting and the kid's curious."

Alex giggled. Then she heard someone entering the kitchen: Wolf.

"Catch you later, Tom. Gotta go!"

With that, she disconnected the phone. She slipped her phone into her pocket and turned to Wolf, who was holding the landline in his hand. He didn't look too pleased. Wolf took a seat next to Alex.

"You never really told me what happened at Tom's last weekend, Cub."

"We played some awesome pranks, I met his girlfriend and we went to a fair. Why, are your jealous of our good time?" Alex replied, joking off the lie smoothly. Wolf shook his head.

"Why don't you tell me a bit about what happened in the fair?"

"Oh. _That_. Wolf, don't blame me that I didn't tell you guys. You're all soldiers, so you'd laugh at how pathetic I was."

Wolf looked surprised. "It wasn't something you could have avoided, Cub."

"Yes, it was! I mean, I knew that eating so many candied apples would take its toll, so I could have just let Jerry go on the rollercoaster, and I could have waited. Then, I wouldn't have puked over everyone!" Alex finished, leaving Wolf looking extremely puzzled.

"Are we talking about the same thing here? 'Cause I'm pretty sure I'm talking about the _life threatening attack_ that Jones told me about!"

Alex rolled her eyes. "God, don't be so melodramatic. It wasn't life threatening."

"That's bollocks and you know it."

"How so?"

"They had a freaking gun!"

Wolf was pretty pissed at this point. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. He opened his eyes again and looked at her, seriously.

"I know we haven't got on particularly well in the past. But I still have been appointed as your guardian. It's my duty to know if you're hurt or not, let alone to protect you. You have to tell me if you've been, oh, I don't know, threatened with a gun, for example!"

"And how much protecting were you hoping on doing when you're, oh, I don't know, pissed, for example?!" rapped out Alex. Wolf shook his head again, to clear his thoughts. He looked tired and weary, like too much had been happening to him of lately. And in all fairness, he had been through so much.

"I… Look, I can't promise you anything. But we can come to a compromise, right? How about I lay off the alcohol for a bit and you tell me as much as you can about what's happening up there," he suggested, gesturing at Alex's head. Alex looked thoughtful.

"Alright, then. It's a deal."

Wolf held out his hand. Alex looked at it weirdly. Then a crooked smile graced her face.

"A gentlemen's pact?"

"Something like that."

She took his hand and gave it a firm shake, before hearing the door fly open and a scuffle of people flooding into the house. Eagle led the way in, followed by Ben, Snake and Lynx. Eagle immediately ran past Alex and up to Wolf.

"Wolf, you'll never guess what happened in the park, I kissed Al- oh, h-hey, Alex. Fancy seeing you here!" he mumbled after seeing Alex in the corner of the room.

"Well, I do live here. It should kind of be expected by now. So what happened in the park?" she asked Eagle with a devilish smile. Eagle faltered in terror.

"I-I was, um, you know, j-just-"

"Jesus Christ, Eagle, spit it out!" muttered Ben.

"H-ha ha, yeah, I will. Just, um, I sort of bumped into A-Alex over here and we, uh…"

Wolf raised an eyebrow. "What did you to my ward, Eagle?"

"Nothing! Nothing at all, Wolf. We just had a long chat about, uh… lollipops! That's right, lollipops!"

Wolf leaned back against the kitchen counter. "So it had nothing to do with your date that you've been boasting about all week?" Eagle gulped. Alex adopted a hurt expression.

"Eagle? Is that true? Have you been _boasting_ about our date? So what, am I just a trophy to you now?" she demanded in a dramatically upset tone. Eagle looked horrified.

"No, of course not, Alex. I was… I was… hey, why are you all laughing?"

For the entire room couldn't hold it in any longer. Of course, to some degree, they sympathised the poor man for being attacked by both Wolf and Alex's dangerous glares. But the way that Eagle had crumbled was astonishingly hilarious!

Alex giggled and walked up to Eagle to kiss him on the cheek. Then she sat down next to him, ignoring the open stares she got from the rest of the unit. Suddenly, Wolf's demeanour turned business-like once more.

"Alex, I'm going to tell them about last weekend." Alex nodded, mutely. And Wolf told them about the gun, the knife and the strange conduct of the assassins. At the end of the story, Ben looked very grave.

"And you're sure that Mrs Jones said it can't be a relative of Gregorovich? Then, who could it be?"

"I don't have a clue," said Alex. "I've killed off more people than I've played pranks. It could be any one of them."

Lynx frowned and pulled out a piece of paper and a pen.

"Better start writing down their names, then."

Ten minutes later, the unit had compiled an extremely long list of the people that Alex had killed. They had shortlisted it down to the people that she had actually killed, rather than the guards, pilots and drivers that suffered at the hands of her. They figured that the families of those people were less likely to take revenge. The list went as such:

_Herod Sayle_

_Nadia Vole_

_Dr Grief_

_Eva Stellenbosch_

_Alexei Sarov_

_Damian Cray_

_Julia Rothman_

_Nile_

_Paul Drevin_

_Kaspar (Magnus Payne)_

_Winston Yu_

_Desmond McCain_

_Myra Bennet_

_Abdul-Aziz Al-Rahim and_

_Julius Grief_

"Whew!" huffed Snake. "That's a lot of names on that list. And that's all of them, right, Cub?"

But Alex was looking forlorn. After Snake called her name again, she looked up blankly.

"Is there any other name that needs to be on that list, Cub?" enunciated Snake, as if speaking to a child. Alex blinked and swiftly added one more name to the list.

_Jack Starbright_

Understanding dawned on Snake's face but Alex waved him off before he could apologise. Lynx cleared his throat and moved on.

"Right. Now, we need to cut it down to either people whose second name begins with 'G'." And the list was shortened even further to

_Julius Grief and_

_Dr Grief._

Ben tried to reason it out.

"The assassins were avenging their brother's death, right? But Hugo Grief doesn't have any family. And Julius Grief's test-tube baby brothers were killed in your Point Blanc mission. So it can't be them. Who else can it be?"

Alex frowned, her slim fingers shuffling through the papers that lay on the desk. Suddenly, she froze. Eagle peered over her shoulder, then his eyes widened.

"Alex, it can't be."

"It's the only one."

Wolf intervened.

"Who is it?"

Alex looked at him with fear.

"Nile".

* * *

_**Dun Dun Dunnn! Bet you weren't expecting that! I know this is a short chapter, but please review and tell me what you think of the idea, as well as Eagle and Alex's relationship. So, yeah, it's good to see you guys again!**_

_**Ta ra from your favourite banana x**_


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N: I am so,so,so very sorry! I have had to deal with three birthdays in the past week. Four, if you count the twins as separate people. My older brother has been taking over my computer to search for cars, because my dad said he has earned one. Well, that wasn't a good idea on his part, because that's all my brother has been going on about. The twins won't stop with Miniclip and I have had no time to update this! So please, on behalf of me, curse my older brother. My baby twin brothers are cute, so they escape. I'll start the ball rolling: Aaron, you heartless bastard. **

**Sorry. I have a lot of pent-up anger :)**

**Disclaimer: NO.**

* * *

Alex was woken very suddenly by the ringing of her phone. Grumbling obscenities under her breath about the caller ringing her at four in the morning, she picked up.

"Hello?" she mumbled blearily, her voice slurred with sleep.

"Alexis Rider, I presume?" asked the voice. Alex resisted the temptation to reply with "_Yes. Dr Livingstone, I presume?"_

"Yep, that's me."

"The head of the bank would like to talk to you about your… account, I think…?" trailed off the voice. Alex frowned.

"Sorry, why the hell do you want me in at four in the morning? I'm pretty sure that Barclay's doesn't open till at least nine."

The voice swore. "Um, sorry. It's the Royal and General Bank, miss. I'm new to the job, see, so I haven't quite got used to the whole spying business."

_Evidently, _thought Alex. _She's just given away the secrets of MI6 to a person she doesn't know, in a matter of five minutes._

"Okay. I'll be there in a few hours."

The phone was cut off. Alex glared at it, as if the whole situation was its fault. Then she traipsed over to Wolf's room. From the deep snoring being emitted from the room, Alex guessed that he would not be in a good mood in the knowledge that he had to escort her to London before dawn.

She hesitantly opened the door and padded softly towards the lump on the bed. Holding her breath and praying that Wolf wouldn't be completely furious, she pulled back the duvet covers.

Only to find something much worse.

A very beautiful, very voluptuous, very _naked _woman was lying on top of a boxer-clad Wolf. Alex immediately threw the covers back on and made hastily for the door and, boy, was she thankful she hadn't woken them up. Outside the room, she took a few deep, calming breaths, before shaking her head, trying to rid herself of the image she had just witnessed. Then she lifted her hand and knocked heavily on the door. As far as she was concerned, Wolf being angry that he was woken up early was miles better than Wolf being caught post-shag.

She distinctly heard some swearing, before the rustling of clothes covering the husky sound of a woman's voice. Then the door swung open, revealing a very sour Wolf. He was wearing his pyjamas, thank God.

"Morning, Wolf!" she said in a much too cheery voice for the morning. Wolf groaned.

"What the fuck do you want?" he growled.

"I was wondering if you can take me to London."

Wolf looked astonished. "At four?"

Alex nodded decisively. When he asked why she couldn't just get the train by herself, she said, "I have to visit the Royal and General".

Understanding crossed Wolf's face. He opened his mouth, but before he got a chance to speak, he was interrupted by a woman in a silk, red dressing gown.

"Hey, sexy. Wanna come back for another round?" she drawled. Alex nearly gagged. This woman was giving Wolf dirty talk. In front of Alex. She swallowed down the nausea and turned back to a flushing Wolf.

"Alex, this is Chelsea. Chelsea, Alex. She's my…"

"Ward," supplied Alex. "Slept well?"

She winced as soon as the words left her mouth. Wolf blushed even more, if that was remotely possible. Chelsea ignored Alex and asked Wolf why she was here.

"Her, uh, Uncle, one of my mates, died. I'm doing it as a favour."

"My, oh, my, Di. Generous, fit and good in bed. What more could a woman want?" she purred.

"Why don't I go downstairs and make breakfast?" asked Alex abruptly, nipping _that_ conversation in the bud before it began. Then she ran down the stairs, leaving two very confused adults behind.

* * *

Suffice to say, the train journey to London was filled with awkward silence between Alex and her guardian. Wolf was crammed into a small space, next to two children. The children looked terrified of him, to put it mildly. Alex was squeezed between the children's parents, who looked rather concerned with their safety.

Finally, Wolf exploded. "'Slept well'? Was that not slightly obvious? Not to mention completely fuckin' embarrassing!"

Ignoring the disapproving looks that they were gaining by the other passengers in the cabin, Alex said, "Well excuse me for trying to diffuse the tension. It wasn't my fault that the bank wanted me in so early."

Wolf grunted. "At least you didn't walk in on us," he replied. Catching Alex's expression, he asked, "You didn't, did you?"

Alex gave a weak smile, shaking her head. Wolf gave her a disbelieving look. Then he shook his head.

"What do the bank want?"

Alex shrugged. "They didn't specify. I'm guessing that it's about the… hack."

Wolf nodded. Alex reached into her bag and got her Ipod. After putting on her head phones, she leaned forward, paying no attention to the open stares she was attracting.

"So, Wolf. How was she?"

Wolf's cheeks turned pink.

"Jonathan," whispered the woman in the carriage, "I think we should move now."

* * *

Alex stormed into Mrs Jones' office. She was extremely tired and two hours in Wolf's presence did not do much to improve her mood. The same could be said for Wolf.

"Mrs Jones, is there a particular reason that I am two hours away from my house at six in the morning?" asked Alex. But when she got a closer look at Jones' face, she saw the haggard expression.

"Our mysterious 'AG' has escaped."

Alex was stunned. This wasn't adding up at all. "AG" was completely pathetic as an assassin. He couldn't even aim the gun at her properly, let alone shoot her. How in God's name did he escape? There was only one explanation.

"He had outside help?"

Mrs Jones nodded. She picked out a disk from the pile on her desk and slotted it into the DVD player. An image of "AG"'s cell appeared on a TV screen. "AG" was apparently sleeping in the corner. The video showed the time to be 11:00pm the night before. Mrs Jones picked up the remote and fast-forwarded the tape.

"We have shots of 11:00 and fifteen minutes later," she said while she paused the DVD. The image was almost identical. The only difference was the fact that the prisoner had escaped.

"The thing that has surprised us the most is the speed at which this was accomplished. It took only fifteen minutes for someone else to get past the guards, open the cell, get the prisoner and get out. We believe that such a task could have only been accomplished with help inside."

Mrs Jones switched off the screen. She turned to Alex.

"I believe that you and your Unit mates have talked over who we're dealing with."

Alex didn't bother worrying over how Mrs Jones knew that. She always had a way.

"Yes. We went through all the people that have been… killed by me. We shortened it down to those whose surnames started with "G". We didn't bother with extended family, as we decided that they wouldn't be so bothered. The only people we had were the Grief's, but they don't have family."

Mrs Jones nodded. "So what did you do after that?"

"We went through all the people who we didn't know the surnames of," supplied Wolf.

"Who did you come up with?"

"Nile was the only person, Mrs Jones."

Mrs Jones frowned and turned to her computer. She quickly tapped out a few words into the system. Then she sighed, absent-mindedly reaching out to her side. When her hand didn't touch anything, she sighed again.

Alex grinned, knowing that Mrs Jones was craving her peppermints. She had been warned against them because of the damage they were doing to her teeth. Mrs Jones pushed a button on her desk, asking for Smithers.

A few minutes later, a portly, cheery looking man bounced into the room. It was Smithers. The last time Alex had seen Smithers, he had stepped out of his skin, revealing himself to be a young, wiry man. Smithers walked past Alex, winking on his way.

"What seems to be the problem, Ma'am?"

Mrs Jones gestured towards the computer. "We are trying to access the files of the SCORPIA operative known as Nile. This machine informs me that I do not have the authorization to access them. Would you please let it know that I am, indeed, the head of MI6, and so I am able to view these files?" asked Mrs Jones. Smithers sighed, walking around to the computer with an "of course, Ma'am".

Smithers quickly typed something into the computer, and then spread his hands to Mrs Jones in an ironic fashion. Mrs Jones thanked Smithers and dismissed him. She continued to type away into the machine. All the while, Alex and Wolf sat in uncomfortable silence.

Finally, Mrs Jones turned the screen to the two, very bored people in front of her.

"Nile Griffiths. Born 16th October 1983 in England. One of four siblings and lived with his mother. The father disappeared from the picture at his birth. His mother gave him over to SCORPIA, believing his future would be better over there. Nile was trained at a very young age to be an assassin. He was brilliant in stealth, secrecy and the ability to kill."

Alex pondered over this information, picking out the relevant parts. She suddenly spotted something.

"One out of four siblings, you said? Do we know much about them?"

Mrs Jones shook her head.

"Then I guess we'll have to find out."

* * *

Alex was sitting in the kitchen, finishing the remnants of her holiday homework, while a pot of chilli con carne simmered on the hob. She groaned as she moved onto the huge English essay that she had been putting off for days. _Well, I have been a bit preoccupied, what with people trying to kill me and all._ Deciding on the ways that Fitzgerald tells the story in chapter 7 of _The Great Gatsby_ was definitely not her idea of a good pastime.

A God-sent interruption finally entered the room when she was on her fifth paragraph in the form of Matt Cullen. Strangely, he walked straight past Alex. Alex sensed what he was about to do and slapped his hand before he could even touch the lid to the pan of chilli.

"Nu-uh, Matt. That's for dinner. Patience is a virtue," she mocked. Matt pouted.

"But I'm hungry!"

"Tough, hun. You'll only have to wait for half an hour, anyways."

Matt sighed, pretending to be upset. Then he perked up.

"Well, if I can't have the chilli con carne, I can at least have you," he smirked, leaning in for a kiss. Alex took a step back and raised her eyebrows.

"That has got to be one of the cheesiest lines you've used on me," she said.

"Did it work?"

She bit her lip. "Yes," she admitted.

Matt's smirk deepened as he leant in again. Alex met him halfway, reaching up to him because he was so tall. She gave him a ghost of a kiss and sighed. Matt was grinning now. He grabbed her hands and hung them around his neck, then moved his own hands around her waist, while deepening the kiss. Alex was really getting into this, considering that she hadn't really experienced something as passionate as this. She sucked on his lips hungrily and he coaxed open her mouth. He was about to slide his tongue in, when:

"Ahem".

Alex and Matt broke apart quickly to see who had interrupted them. It was Wolf and, unsurprisingly, he looked pissed off. Alex stepped to the side, averting her eyes and rubbing her lips.

"Cub, believe it or not but I'm quite lax with you. However, _snogging in my kitchen in front of my dinner_ is unacceptable! If it weren't for the fact that it's Eagle you're dating…" Wolf threatened. Alex blushed.

"Well, at least it was only kissing and nothing else, eh? I mean, we wouldn't want a repeat of this morning, would we?" mocked Alex. This time, Wolf flushed.

"What happened this morning?" asked Eagle.

Before Alex could speak, Wolf looped his arms around Eagle's waist and chucked him into the living room. Then he calmly walked back in.

"Leaving aside our personal lives, we need to talk about what we learned today," he said. Alex immediately sat down and pulled out a chair for Wolf. She absent-mindedly drummed patterns on the table.

"I don't really see what we need to talk about. We need to go back to London, investigate that cell and find out as much as possible about this man. Simple."

"Ah," said Wolf, bringing out a letter. "We can't do that."

He pushed the letter to Alex, who picked it up and scanned through it:

_To Miss Rider,_

_ We understand how personal the recent attack on you may be for you. However, in the light of the recent occurrences, we feel that it would be best for you to refrain from investigating. Unlike many of your previous missions, this is an attempt on your life. It is our wish, for your benefit, that you stay in the presence of your guardian, Diego Montez. We are advising you to let the situation be dealt with by trained men._

_Yours Sincerely,_

_Mrs Jones, Head of MI6, etc,._

Alex read through the letter and with each sentence, fury spread further across her cheeks. _Trained men?_ She had trained a whole lot more than any of the other men in MI6. And how dare Mrs Jones act like she was worried about Alex's safety when that had been a minor concern when she was fourteen?

"We're still going to go there and investigate," stated Alex. "Mrs Jones will not stop us."

"I thought you might say that. That's why I've asked for some help," replied Wolf.

"Who?"

Wolf gestured at the man who was standing at the door: Ben Daniels, AKA Fox.

* * *

_**Et voilà! Thanks for all the reviews for the last chapter. Can we get this one up to 50? I might be able to update earlier...**_

_** Also, please let me know if the Eagle/Alex moment was overdone or underdone. Please remember to curse my older brother to the deep depths of Tartarus. Finally, what do you think of the plot? Are there any gaping holes?**_

_**Ta ra from your favourite banana xx**_


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N: Sorry it's late, yada yada, don't have much time, bye!**

* * *

The unit drove off to Ben's house. Wolf was driving and Ben sat next to him, in the front passenger's seat. Snake sat behind them with Lynx. Alex and Eagle occupied the seats at the very back, which Wolf had kindly pulled up for them. It was times like these that Wolf appreciated his investment in a seven-seater.

Ben calmly turned up the radio. Nirvana blared from the speakers. Alex grinned at Wolf from the backseat.

"Since when were you a head-banger, Wolf? If you had told me earlier, we could have collaborated our music and had some punk rock sessions!"

Wolf scowled. He changed the music. A sudden flow of soft jazz surged out. Wolf sighed happily and leant back in his seat. Ben looked at him in disgust and leant forward to change the music again, to pop. Alex cried out in horror.

"No, Ben! Not this! Anything but this! Change it back to Nirvana!"

Wolf slapped Ben's hand away before he could touch the radio. Then Wolf changed it to Billy Joel. Ben kicked Wolf, making the car swerve a little. While Wolf was still in shock, Ben calmly put Capital FM on. By now, Lynx and Eagle had joined Alex in screaming for different music. Snake slumped back in his seat, muttering, "How did I get stuck with this stupid, childish unit?"

By the time that they had reached Ben's house, Alex's throat was hoarse, Eagle and Lynx were indulging in fisticuffs, Wolf was red with anger and Snake was close to crying. The only calm person in the car was Ben.

He opened the door and walked out of the car before opening the back doors and prising Lynx and Eagle off each other. Then he grabbed Alex and hauled her off Lynx's back and gave Snake a hand up. Finally, he turned to Wolf and gave him a bottle of water.

"Water will help you cool down, Wolf."

Wolf flipped the bird at Ben before going to wait by the front door. Ben helped Snake towards Wolf, chucking all the way. At long last, Ben opened his door and they all walked in. Alex began to talk.

"Right. We're finally here, so we need to discuss- Oof!"

She was knocked down by a chocolate brown tornado. A huge tongue lolled all over her face and she fought to heave it off her. Eagle bounded over and knelt down.

"Hello, Angel! Who's a beautiful puppy? Is it you? Is it you?" he gushed as the little tornado, which turned out to be a pug, panted happily. Eagle halted his petting when he became aware of the stares of disbelief being directed at him.

"What? Angel makes me soft," he said in defence. Lynx cocked his eyebrows and picked up Angel, who was wallowing in the attention she was attracting. Then he walked into the sitting room, muttering about the incompetence of his unit.

Eagle brushed his trousers and helped Alex up. "He can talk about incompetence, but in all honesty, he's the childish one!" he mumbled petulantly. Ben clapped him on the back and headed towards the kitchen, with Wolf in tow. Alex gave Eagle a quick kiss, and then walked into the living room to join Lynx.

In the living room, the unit members sat around a coffee table, which had a huge map spread out over it. Alex was wiping off the puppy-drool with a towel from the kitchen. Angel was sitting happily on Alex's lap. She was obviously taken to Alex.

"Okay, then," started Ben. "We all know what's been happening with Alex, right? Alex wants to find out who this guy is. He's escaped from jail, Mrs Jones hasn't exactly got much out of him and we only have the coppers on his trail. But he's a rubbish assassin. Doesn't compare to his older brother, Nile. We want to find out just what this guy is up to. Mrs Jones is talking bullshit. Agreed?" he said calmly. Lynx had taken on the job of writing all the details down on a pad of paper. Wolf was sitting in the corner, nursing a cup of tea and a biscuit. Eagle was content next to Alex.

Snake, however, was frowning. He leant forward with a worried expression on his face.

"Should we really be going against the head of MI6? She probably has a good reason for telling Cub not to go after the assassin."

Alex snorted. "Snake, this 'assassin' couldn't hold a gun against me. He wasn't that dangerous," she immediately said. But Snake wasn't convinced.

"If he isn't that dangerous, why do you want to go after him? He most likely won't cause any trouble because, according to you, he isn't up to it," insisted Snake.

Alex threw her hands up. "He has outside help, and we don't know who the outside help is! That person could be lethal, maybe even more so than Nile himself!" she stated. Snake sat back but still didn't look certain. Ben glanced at them. Then he turned to Wolf.

"Wolf, you are Alex's guardian. What do you think we should do?" he asked. Wolf jumped out of his trance. Then he took a sip of tea, clearly thinking over his answer. Finally, upon seeing the impatient look on his ward's face, his face split into a wicked grin.

"I think that Alex knows what she's doing. And if she gets it wrong, she has her SAS unit to back her up. And that is a big 'if'," he said casually. Alex looked at him indifferently. But inside, she was feeling… warm. Wolf had trust in her abilities. What's more, he was counting her as one of K Unit. It was "her unit". She felt… wanted.

Alex was snapped out her happy bubble by Lynx, who was waving his hand in front of her face.

"You want to give us a description of this guy?" he said impatiently. Alex mentally groaned.

"And who are you? Sherlock Holmes?" she retorted. Lynx rolled his eyes.

"It's important to know who we're dealing with!" he persisted. Alex thought back to the carnival, when she was sitting next to Jerry on the Ferris wheel. She thought back to the man sitting behind her, who was seemingly harmless. He was black, like Nile. She couldn't identify signs of vitiligo, the disease that blotched Nile's dark skin with white. He wasn't as handsome and attractive as Nile. He was thin, awkward and gangly as opposed to muscular and fit. The only similarities were the small points, such as the eyes and the mouth.

She told this to Lynx, who was scribbling furiously on his pad of paper. Ben was pursing his lips in thought.

"And Mrs Jones has told you nothing about any DNA tests, any markings whatsoever?"

Alex shook her head. "That's why we have to go back to London and find out."

Ben nodded in affirmation. Then he pulled out a sheaf of papers from his bag. He handed all the sheets to everyone in the room.

"I knew that you would want to investigate, Alex. That is why I have taken the liberty of copying down Mrs Jones' schedule, as well as the deputy head, Miss Carlisle. I have found a window in which neither Mrs Jones nor Miss Carlisle is around the cell that was occupied by the assassin. It's a small one, though. We're going to have to be quick. We only have fifteen minutes to search, not including time to break in and out."

Alex grabbed the schedules. She saw the window that Ben was talking about: the next Thursday. She got her phone out and looked through her calendar.

"Ben, that's a school day. What am I going to do?" she asked frantically. After her experience at Brooklands, she was wary of skiving. But Ben smiled.

"It's only one day. We can say you have a doctor's appointment," he calmly replied. Alex sighed.

"Hm. How are we supposed to break into the MI6 cells? They'll know who we are," she said. Ben motioned towards the papers she was holding.

"Read through those, all of you. These are your cover stories. Although I highly doubt that we'll be questioned, we must be prepared. We're all maintenance men."

Alex sifted through the facts that Ben had told them.

"You've really thought this through, haven't you?"

Ben nodded, pleased with himself. "Well, no one messes with my little sister and gets away with it!" he declared. Alex raised her eyebrows at that.

"'Little sister'?" she questioned.

"Yeah," replied Ben. "I think that's what you are to all of us. Actually, I think Wolf is a bit more parental. And Eagle is more, um… romantic," Ben told her. Alex was happy at that. But then, she spotted something in one of Ben's speeches.

"Wait a minute. Maintenance men?"

Ben looked sheepish. "Oh, about that…. How do feel about a wig and fake sideburns?"

* * *

"Alex, stop fidgeting. If you move again, your eyebrow will fall off!" sighed Matt. Then he looked confused at the absurdity of his statement. Sighing again, he continued to paste on a thick, bushy brown eyebrow onto Alex's own one. Then he gathered up her hair and twirled it into a bun. He pushed in many sharp pins, generating squawks of indignation from Alex. Finally, he covered it in hairspray and stuck on a short red wig.

Alex moaned as she looked at herself in the mirror. Then she glared at Matt.

"How come you have to do my disguise? Why can't Ben do it?" she demanded. Matt gave her a shit-eating grin.

"Well, it was only after I got on my knees and begged him to let me sort out your disguise. After all, who would pass up a chance to dress their girlfriend up in men's clothes?"

Alex glowered from under her moustache and lunged at Matt, toppling him over onto the bed. She got on top of him, raising her fist to punch him in the shoulder, when she spotted something in his words.

"'Girlfriend'?" she asked him. He blushed, then pushed her off him, pinning her to the bed.

"Well," he began as he leant in to her, "I am going out with you. Sort of. You're all right with that, aren't you?" he smirked into the crook of her neck. Alex shuffled a bit.

"Um, y-yeah, I suppose. Matt, w-what are you doing?"

Matt moved closer into her. "Having a nice time with my girlfriend."

"A-and what if someone walks in on us again?"

Matt paused where he was. "Then they'll have to accept that I have a thing for men with red beards and moustaches," he grinned. Alex looked momentarily confused. Then she realised that he was talking about her disguise. Laughing, she pushed him back and sat up again.

"Come on," she said fondly. "We have to go."

They walked back downstairs in friendly silence. Ben spotted the pair and led them back into the living room. She saw that everyone else had got into their disguises. Snake had donned a long black wig, tied back into a ponytail. Lynx was wearing a wig that was bleached blonde. His look was complete with a couple of piercings in his ears. Ben had gone redhead like Alex. The most hilarious was Wolf, though. His head was covered in some kind of material which made him look bald. Stick-on tattoos snaked their way up his arm. His face was beetroot- red in fury. Alex stifled a laugh behind her hand before turning to Matt.

"Where's your disguise?" she questioned him. He shrugged.

"Fox didn't give me one. He said that I have to stay here and give you directions," he replied, simply, laughing at Alex's indignant expression. She frowned and turned to Ben, who was calling her name.

"Now that we all have our disguises," he began, gesturing at everyone, "I want you to take your files. Learn each and every fact. On Wednesday afternoon, the day before we go to London, we're meeting at Wolf's. Eagle will give you a test on your character. Obviously, you now know how to put on your disguises. It will, hypothetically, be faster to get them on and off on Thursday. We've been over the plan; does everyone know what they're doing?"

The unit nodded. Ben smiled.

"Until next week, then."

* * *

"Mr Byrnes, I think my guardian has spoken to you, but I have a dentist appointment today," stated Alex. Mr Byrnes looked up from his computer screen. He signalled for her to wait and tapped at his keyboard. Then he smiled at her.

"Yes, Alex. Make sure you explain to Mrs Madon in your drama lesson where you are going. It is drama that you will be missing, correct?"

Alex smiled back at him and nodded. Mr Byrnes gestured for her to sit back down, so she slumped in her seat next to James. He immediately started chatting to her.

"Hey, Alex, guess what? I was at this party yesterday and guess who I saw? Kaya Freeman. And guess who she asked out? Me! I said no, though, she's such a bitch…"

Alex let his mindless blab wash over her, her mind concentrated on the upcoming break in. As she was sitting through maths, she couldn't help but think back to the days when she was fourteen. She had hated Alan Blunt for making her go on missions, missing school and getting bad reports. And yet, here she was, planning on taking time off school to follow up some madman who wanted to kill her! Sure, it wasn't even for a whole day. But it was bothering her. Maybe Snake was right: it would have been better to let MI6 deal with it.

She shook the thought off. No, Ben had gone to great lengths to plan this out. It was mapped out to the tiniest detail. It would be a waste of effort to abandon ship now.

By the time drama came about, Alex was mentally prepared. Fifteen minutes into the lesson, she walked up to Mrs Madon, asking to be excused. James gave her a thumbs up as she left the classroom. She took a deep breath and gathered her bags, then walked outside. Wolf was standing by his car, a '69 Mustang. Alex smiled and took the bag in his outstretched hand. Then she climbed into the back of the car as Wolf kept watch outside. She quickly changed into the clothes of a caretaker and put on her fake facial hair. When she peeped outside the window and caught Wolf's eye, he got in the driver's seat and she clambered over to sit down next to him. He turned to her.

"We'll go to our house and meet Snake, Fox and Lynx. Then we'll get the train to London."

Alex nodded her consent and he sped off.

That was how the five of them landed outside the Royal and General, dressed in orange uniforms and armed with mops and buckets. Lynx had earphones plugged firmly in his ears. They would carry any messages and directions that Eagle had for them. They walked inside and Alex strode up to the desk.

"Watcher. We're here to clean up one of the rooms upstairs," she said, pouring on the Cockney charm. The secretary looked up glumly from her desk. When she saw the foreboding image of a beefy, angry redhead, which was hiding Alex's thin, wiry frame, she shied away.

"W-we need a p-p-password for access to the u-upper f-floors, sir," she stuttered. Alex could immediately tell that this was the woman who had called her to the bank when "AG" had escaped. Ben leant forward conspiringly.

"Star-Spangled Banner," he whispered dramatically. She nodded, signalling for them to go up. When they were about to reach the stairs, she called out, meekly,

"Wait! None of you are called Cub, Fox, Lynx or Wolf, right?"

Alex looked at the four men and rolled her eyes.

"No, we're not, ma'am."

The secretary nodded again and let them up.

* * *

"Ok, we have fifteen minutes. Scour the room. There might be something that those trainee dolts missed," Ben muttered.

"Why did she not hire professionals?," asked Alex, referring to Mrs Jones. Ben shrugged his shoulders. They began searching the room. Wolf took the corner by the door and Ben took the corner opposite. Lynx and Alex looked where the assassin was standing and Snake searched the places that were left. There search was quickly halted by a cry of delight from Snake. They all crowded around him, apart from Alex.

"Look! A piece of a handkerchief! It has a name on it! 'Felix Griffiths'. That must be the guy who broke out 'AG'. Cub! We've got it!" he exclaimed. Alex, however, was decidedly unimpressed. She carried on inspecting the chain that held the assassins arm to the wall.

"Alex? What are you doing?" asked Ben. Alex ignored him, while taking out some equipment from her pocket. Ben shook his head and went back to congratulate Snake, who was proud of his find.

All too soon, Lynx heard Eagle's voice in the earphones.

"Lynx, I've hacked into MI6's communication system. They haven't yet worked out that something's wrong, but my guess is that you don't have a lot of time. I suggest that you clear out, if you've got what you're looking for." Eagle sounded grave.

Lynx conveyed this message to the rest of the group. Alex, who had just stood up, nodded her head, swiftly leading them outside. They walked at a brisk pace downstairs, nodding at the workers they passed. They were about to walk out of the door, when:

"Stop where you are!"

The group simultaneously turned around, catching sight of the guard who had called out to them. The scary-looking man walked straight towards them. Alex held her breath in suspense. _Busted…_

"I've been conducting an experiment to see if redheads are really more tempered than blondes. May I take one of your hairs?" he asked her. Alex smiled weakly and plucked a hair from her beard. Once the guard was satisfied, they turned and ran.

Mission accomplished.

* * *

**_The amount of times I have rewritten this! Thanks to Aiyana for a lovely review, up to 50 this time, please? Hope u like, got to go!_**

**_Ta ra etc_**

**_(sorry for spelling mistakes, as u can probz tell, I'm rushed!)_**


	12. Chapter 11

**A/N:...**

**So, how you doing? Miss me?**

**I am so, so, so sorry! I got bogged down by a lot of work and I just didn't have the time! But, I'm not going to ramble. I'll let you read.**

**Disclaimer: ...**

* * *

"…And I finally found this piece of cloth by the corner, with the person's name on it as well! Isn't that great?" announced Snake. The unit were sitting around a table in Ben's house. Snake had the fabric in front of him. Ben and Lynx were eagerly congratulating him, while Wolf was leaning back on his chair, feigning disinterest in the situation.

Alex, however, had zoned out. Snake snapped his fingers in front of her.

"Cub? Are you pleased? My first piece of spy work and I was successful!" he whispered excitedly. Alex wrinkled her nose.

"I don't know, Snake. I don't think that's proper evidence," she said vaguely, her head still swimming with thought. The pleased expression immediately dropped from Snake's face. Ben leant forward.

"Why isn't it proper evidence?" he asked. Alex grabbed the cloth and inspected it.

"Firstly, it's way too obvious. This person broke out the prisoner in fifteen minutes. He's amazing, right? Then how could he have just 'accidently' and so conveniently, dropped a handkerchief with his name on it inside the room he knew that everyone would be inspecting? Mrs Jones' trainee spies wouldn't miss it, however stupid they are. That must mean it doesn't have any worth," she said, tracing the stitches in the material. At their disbelieving expressions, she carried on.

"Even if you don't think it's too coincidental, look at their choice of object. A _handkerchief._ Who carries around handkerchief these days? He must have chosen it because many handkerchiefs used to have initials or names on them. And look at the stitching. It's brand new. The thread isn't coming off at all. It isn't dirty at all."

"Maybe he had recently bought a handkerchief," suggested Lynx. Alex frowned and shook her head.

"It's made of cheap quality cotton. If our suspect is old fashioned, he will buy expensive handkerchiefs. This looks like a quick investment, for a quick job," finished Alex. Her explanation met dead silence. Finally, Eagle broke the silence.

"So the whole excursion was a waste?"

Alex smiled and got out a bag which she had carried to the Royal and General. She reached inside and brought out a test tube.

"I found these on the chain which held 'AG'. It was quite hard to spot at first but I found it. There were these little chips of red paint on the chain. Only a few, mind you. Here, have a look," she said, passing them around.

"I took these back to school. At lunch time, I snuck inside the science lab and used an assortment of chemicals to identify the paint."

Wolf, abandoning an act of disinterest, held up the test tube, peering inside.

"How will that help us, exactly?" he asked sarcastically. Alex rolled her eyes.

"Because those are chips of nail varnish. That means the suspect is either a guy who indulges in drag or a woman. I'm willing to place my bet on a woman," she answered coolly. Snake still wasn't satisfied.

"And how does that help us? Are we supposed to search every store owning nail polishes in UK?" he asked. Alex smiled placidly.

"Relax, Snake. I took a lot of time to analyze the paint. It won't amount to nothing. You see, I found some very interesting ingredients in the paint. These ingredients are special to a type of brand I've seen before. What's even more helpful is that only one shop sells that brand. I went there with Tom, ages ago when we came to Birmingham to visit his friend, but I remember."

Ben grinned at her. "What's this shop called, then?"

"The Cloak and Dagger," replied Alex with a feral grin. "Who's going to come and explore with me, then?"

Ben and Eagle immediately answered with a yes, along with Wolf. Snake and Lynx, however, decided that their lead of the handkerchief was the way forward. A huge argument erupted between Eagle and Lynx about who was right.

Eventually, after banging her head many times on the table, Alex decided to intervene.

"Guys."

They ignored her, carrying on with their argument. Alex groaned and shouted.

"Guys!"

Finally, they looked at her, taking in her weary appearance.

"Look, we're obviously having a bit of a dispute about this. Why don't we split up? Lynx and Snake can go and trace back the handkerchief and we will go to the Cloak and Dagger. And to make it a bit more interesting, whoever gets the wrong lead buys a beer at the pub for us all. Sound fair?" she asked. Eagle and Lynx nodded eagerly. Wolf frowned.

"Cub, I don't think it's a good idea for you to go to a pub," he stated mildly, or as mildly as he could get. Alex laughed and rolled her eyes. _I knew he cares about my safety. Deep down._ Wolf started glaring at her as she giggled- the "stop whatever you're doing unless you want to end up skinned alive on the barbecue" kind of glare.

_Make that very deep down, so far that you can't possible see it._

"Mrs Jones will murder me if I get you drunk and upset your health system, kid. I'm more worried about my own safety than yours," he said, offhandedly, at Alex's confused expression. Alex bit back the remark about him calling her a kid, as well as the insult about his fear of Mrs Jones.

"Whatever," she said. "Me, Eagle, Ben and Wolf will go to the shop. Good luck with the handkerchief, Snake. I get the feeling you'll need it."

* * *

Alex was leading the way down a shabby, dim alley. It looked dodgy, and Wolf and Ben were constantly glancing from side to side, as if an assassin might jump out from behind the rubbish bins. The shops had broken windows and kicked in doors; they were completely empty. The few people who were walking along the streets were, at first glance, the nameless nobodies that walk down the high street. But, as Ben got a closer look at them, they were trained nobodies: nobodies that haunt you with a deathly purpose, and can melt into the shadows at the faintest peek- the dangerous kind of nobodies. Alex, unlike the rest of her unit, was striding along confidently, her long hair swinging rhythmically down her back. Eagle was by her side with an intimidating look on his face.

Finally, Alex stopped in front of a shop on the end of the road. In comparison to the rest of the shops (or what was left of them), this shop was bright and cheerful. The windows were clean. The door was freshly painted, although it was a dark brown colour. There was a bell inside which gave a short, sharp ring. The troop entered carefully, minding the stacks of ceramic pots and bronze statues. Behind the counter, there was a bald man with large ears and pock-marked skin. His beaked nose protruded over a small tongue that repeatedly wetted his rubbery lips. As soon as he caught sight of the unit, he leaped forward, grabbing a bejewelled necklace with him.

"Hello, hello, hello!" he said, rubbing his hands like a fly. "Would the beautiful lady like to try a beautiful necklace? It would suit her pretty little neck most beautifully, oh, yes, yes, yes!"

Alex smirked. She waved his hands away, which were itching to fasten the necklace around her neck, and seal the deal.

"Sorry. We're not really interested in buying anything. Actually, we're looking for some information."

The shopkeeper's face fell as he rubbed his hands dejectedly. Then his face lightened again.

"Information, information, information, you say? Maybe madam is willing to pay for it?" he asked.

"That really depends on the information you give us, Mr…" she trailed off.

"Weatherby, Weatherby, Weatherby, madam. What kind of information was it that you're looking for?"

Alex quickly took in the array on stands inside the shop, and then walked forward to one of them, beckoning the shopkeeper along. The stand was full of different beauty products, arranged in a very sporadic manner: the lipsticks were balanced precariously on top of age-old foundation bottles. Dusty, cracked compacts sat askew on broken lip liners. A bottle of mascara was flowing in black, gritty lumps. But Alex was interested in something else. Her hand crept towards a small, blood red bottle of nail polish.

"See this bottle?" she asked the man, twirling it around in her fingers. "It contains a very special chemical called Dicktite, which makes sure the polish doesn't chip unless you remove it with a very special reactant."

She ignored the hearty guffaws erupting from Fox.

"As far as I can recall, one of your shop assistants told me that your shops is the only one in the world that dares to sell these nail polishes, because of the fact that Dicktite is extremely poisonous when wet."

The shopkeeper warily nodded his head, his hands restless.

"Yes," he replied. "What is it that you want, want, want? Forgive me, but I do not see this colour as matching your pale skin tone."

Alex grinned.

"Believe me, I have no intention of buying it. I wouldn't take the risk. And very few people might. What I want to know is, who are the people who do dare to use it?"

The man's face darkened. His entire posture became foreboding, his eyebrows drawn together to form a grizzly caterpillar on his forehead.

"Well, miss," he said. "I'm afraid that's classified."

* * *

_**Yes. Two, immensely short scenes. Both of which are utterly crap. I apologise profusely, but I will be able to update a bit more often now. I know that doesn't make up, but..**_

_**Um, I think from now on, if you favourite, follow or view, please review..? I just want to know how I'm doing, considering that this is my only multi-chapter story. Do I write OK? I really need to know?**_

_**So, atleast 3 reviews for this, because it's so short, k?**_

_**Hmph. I know what I make of it.**_

_**Anyways.**_

_**Ta ra from your slightly less popular banana :(**_


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